Glowing.

I don’t want to venture into the realm of serious TMI, so let me put this delicately: When a lady can’t become a mommy anymore, certain things about her body change. Some of these changes are well-known to the general population, others kept quiet among the crone sisterhood, and still others? Let me put it this way: One day a lady-who-can’t-become-a-mommy-anymore might find herself madly googling “head sweat after 50.” I’m not talking about hot flashes, I’m talking about one day realizing all your schvitz plumbing appears to have been rerouted to your scalp.

It’s very strange. Also not strange. There are medical conditions that can cause this, but I don’t think any apply to me, and besides, when I read medical advice that advises treating cranial hyperhidrosis by avoiding spicy foods and garlic, frankly I’d rather wear a Richard Simmons headband all day. And I don’t walk around dripping, but when I exercise, I’m a veritable sprinkler.

So the other day I was scheduled to give blood. The bloodmobile comes to my gym every major holiday, and I usually roll up a sleeve. I scheduled my appointment at 10:15 and arrived at 9. Lifted weights for an hour, rinsed my face, combed my soaking hair and checked in.

A large male LPN took me aside and asked if I’d just “worked out hard.” Not really, but yeah, I know, I look pretty wrung out. I’m fine. I’m just sweaty. I ate a good breakfast and drank a quart of water this morning, and I’ve never had so much as a wobble after a blood donation. Seriously. Find me a cot and let’s do this.

They rejected me. Rejected! For sweatiness. The LPN said they’d had someone else who arrived in similar dampness “go down” at the last drive, and I guess they didn’t want another one. I looked at him and wondered whether he wanted to hear what happens to a lady when she can’t become a mommy, and decided instead to go quietly.

And this is what my life has become: Being sweat-rejected was the highlight of my holiday weekend. OK, no it wasn’t. We went to the jazz festival Saturday to see Kate’s bass teacher get a big award, along with Dave Brubeck, who unfortunately couldn’t accept. I made steak tacos with fire-roasted salsa and guacamole, all homemade, all delish. I woke myself up at 6 a.m. by rubbing my eyes, my hands still carrying some capsaicin. Rode my bike hard for 30 miles or so. Thoroughly enjoyed the end of what’s been a great summer. In fact, I’m sorta looking forward to fall — new projects, new shoes, long sleeves.

I will miss these awesome peaches, though. Who wouldn’t?

Read this. Commit to memory. Follow its advice. And never risk instilling narcolepsy in your next meeting or memo.

I know this was Diana Nyad’s near-lifelong dream and all, and congratulations to her, but the pictures of her afterward make me wonder why.

So, happy new year to all. School starts today, and my car’s check-engine light went on. Fingers crossed, because we’re well into the nickel-and-dime years with this girl.

Posted at 12:30 am in Current events, Same ol' same ol' |
 

66 responses to “Glowing.”

  1. Sherri said on September 3, 2013 at 2:32 am

    Sweat-rejected?! Geez. I always sweated when I exercised, but now that I’m of a certain age, I look like someone poured a bucket of water on my head after a workout. One reason I keep my hair on the short side!

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  2. Deborah said on September 3, 2013 at 4:43 am

    I’ve been in the “can’t become a mommy/crone sisterhood” phase of my life for a couple of decades and still get hot flashes, which my doctor says happens to some people. My daughter has had excessive head sweating all her life, a side effect of her neurological condition.

    I’m craving a peach right now but I’m in my hotel room in NYC at nearly 5am, no way to get one.

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  3. coozledad said on September 3, 2013 at 7:07 am

    One unpleasant surprise for me about ageing has been the arrival of old man smell. In my case it’s a blend of ripened semisoft cheese and rotten onions fried in ghee.

    Our hippie soaps barely cut the funk. Don’t tell me I’m going to have to start using dog shampoo.

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  4. BigHank53 said on September 3, 2013 at 8:49 am

    Most auto-parts stores these days have a code scanner than they will carry out into the parking lot and check (for free!) to see what triggered the check engine light, and hopefully give you a better idea of how to proceed. A mass air flow sensor, being a $400 part, is worth attempting to clean before replacing it. An oxygen sensor, on the other hand, is probably never going to last more than 140,000 miles and will just have to be replaced. Of course you can drive around for years with a bad oxygen sensor…

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  5. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 3, 2013 at 8:57 am

    Deborah, I’d bet if you went down to the lobby and asked the concierge, they’d know a shop/bodega that had peaches within a block. Go for it!

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  6. Julie Robinson said on September 3, 2013 at 8:59 am

    Speaking of becoming a mommy, on this day in 1980, I did. Our Sarah is a delight and a joy and makes everyone around her better.

    Now back to the slog at Mom’s.

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  7. Connie said on September 3, 2013 at 8:59 am

    My scalp has been damp around the edges for several years now. I believe my personal thermostat has broke.

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  8. Pam (the sister) said on September 3, 2013 at 9:14 am

    I think it might be genetic. I can’t remember when I didn’t sweat a lot. When we lived in St. Louis, I can remember waking up in the middle of the night (St. Louis had killer humidity in the summer) in a terrible sweat and going out to the back porch to find Dad already sitting out there. So maybe it’s his fault. My next door neighbor shares an interest in flowers and gardening and is always stepping into our yard to see what I’m doing. Usually, sweat is rolling into my eyes, my hair is flat (that’s why the hat), and I’m all red in the face. It’s frightening. Well, she had a party a few weeks ago and invited all the neighbors. I walk in and she says (in a very surprised voice), “you look so pretty!” Oh, without the sweaty red faced look which is how she sees me most of the time. I just said
    “Thank you”. That’s why I don’t exercise in public. People actually think I’m about to explode. I do think that the sweating gets worse as we age.

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  9. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 9:43 am

    Nancy – and anyone else who gives whole blood – is the real deal, by my lights.

    Last time I gave whole blood was probably 30 years ago, and at the end I felt horrible, and then passed out.

    The platelet thing is what I do (they give you your red back); it takes a long while; about 3 hours of your life, from the time you walk in, clear question-time (which changes in odd ways*, every so often), and make it past the bp check (used to be my Achilles heel) and the finger-prick to see that you have enough iron.

    I once got rejected because I sneezed, and they decided I wasn’t healthy enough; but blood pressure became a genuine issue, a few years back. I now take a pill for that, and it’s all good again (so thanks to Red Cross and their bp checks, I may not stroke out of this life, or at least not as soon as I would have)

    Pam has noted that I come home cranky after platelet donation. A glass of milk and/or something more to eat, and I’m good to go.

    And my next appointment is after work tomorrow, so no icy cold Diet Pepsi for the day…

    *pull my finger and I’ll elucidate some of their idiosyncratic changes of late

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  10. LAMary said on September 3, 2013 at 9:44 am

    I’ve had a sweaty scalp all my life, even as a little girl. It’s been really hot here for over a week and my house has no AC, so cooking is a challenge. Sweat runs into my eyes when I stand near a hot stove. I’ve been grilling. If any of you are getting late season corn , here’s a grilled corn recipe we’ve had twice. It’s really good.

    4 ears of husked corn
    1 stick of butter
    1/4 cup of white miso paste
    about a tablespoon of canola oil
    handful of finely minced scallions

    Brush the corn with the oil and put it on a hot grill turning until it’s slightly charred on all sides, about 5 minutes.

    Soften the butter and mash the miso paste into the butter thoroughly.

    Take the corn off the fire and spread the miso/butter mixture over it, rolling the corn in it so all sides get some.

    Sprinkle the scallions over the corn.

    This tastes like nothing else. I think the miso/butter fits the exact description of umami. I understand you can make eggplant, either the small, thin Japanese egglplant or a European eggplant cut in quarters, the same way.

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  11. LAMary said on September 3, 2013 at 9:49 am

    Here’s the link for that recipe.

    http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/chefs_recipes/14572/Grilled_Corn_with_Miso_Butter.htm

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  12. coozledad said on September 3, 2013 at 10:13 am

    I was wondering when Miley would stick her tongue out:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcV5qyARs9Y

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  13. Bitter Scribe said on September 3, 2013 at 10:17 am

    If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never been able to donate blood. The one time I tried, I kept flashing to scenes in books and movies where someone died slowly from loss of blood, and I got dizzy and faint and had to abort. Maybe I’m just a wuss.

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  14. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 3, 2013 at 10:24 am

    Sneaking up on 13 gallons, but they just closed our local donation center, so I can’t do every 60 days anymore, I’m supposed to chase bloodmobile events around the area, or drive 35 minutes to Columbus. That’s the irony of the need being so great, but the response being so small (and thanks to tats and piercings, getting smaller); they just can’t afford a stand-alone center. And I need to schedule, or I won’t give but twice a year or so. Frustrating.

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  15. Mark P said on September 3, 2013 at 10:41 am

    I know this is different, but if you really, really want to have a sweaty head, I can invite you down to my house to do some yard work next summer. I can’t work outside in the summer without a bandanna wrapped around my forehead, and I have to change it at lunch, along with my shirt.

    As for the rules of writing, those are like all rules for writing: they’re good most of the time, but not all the time. The key is knowing which is when.

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  16. Charlotte said on September 3, 2013 at 10:44 am

    Oh my. You’re all making me feel bad about the blood thing. Need to get back on the schedule — but they moved the donation spot to this creepy little church, and the guys who run it are all right-wing assholes who blather on about the evils of Obama and the impending black helicopters. Sigh. But since I have a really easy vein, if boring A+ blood, I’ll get back on track.

    Hot. Staticky. Windy. And so much smoke in the air my throat hurts. It’s an apocalyptic mood here at summer’s end.

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  17. Chris in Iowa said on September 3, 2013 at 10:45 am

    Speaking of aging from the male perspective … I really don’t mind having gone bald. In fact, I’m not sure I’d want a full head of hair again if someone told me I could have it again. But I don’t particularly enjoy the irony of being a bald guy who can now grow hair in a whole lot of other places where I really don’t want it. And like Cooze, I seem to have developed an old-man smell. It doesn’t seem to matter what I eat or drink, the smell remains.

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  18. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 10:45 am

    I think tats and piercings only get you a 6 month deferral…and if you take a cruise to Haiti (for example), that’s a one year deferral (you may get bitten by a mosquito); and if you ate at a particular restaurant here in FTW in the past 6 months, that will earn a 1 year deferral (hepatitis outbreak from there!)

    A local guy just passed the 500-donation milestone, which I don’t think I’ll ever hit.

    The absolute max number of donations per year = 24, so at max-rate, it would take 21 years. I’m at about 130, and I’m good for about 12-15 donations/year…so that’s another 30 years of donations at my rate….(I wonder if they have a max-age?)

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  19. Mark P said on September 3, 2013 at 10:47 am

    Oh, and about writing, on Monday Language Log had some quotes from Richard Lanham’s Style: An Anti-Textbook:

    http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=6666#more-6666

    I wasn’t familiar with Lanham or his book, but it apparently dates from 1974.

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  20. Bill said on September 3, 2013 at 11:20 am

    I’ve donated platelets 100 times; some of them were “doubles.” Unfortunately, I can’t donate any more because atrial fibrillation found me 4 years ago and I’ve been on coumadin ever since. The hospital where I donated upgraded their equipment and my last year of donations only took about an hour, including those pesty questions regarding your travel, medication and sexual relationships.

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  21. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 11:32 am

    Bill, I would have guessed that the machines would produce roughly the same donation times, but my brother says his times are like yours; whereas I’m always hooked up for 2 hours (they recently increased the max-time you can be on the machine), and the rigmarole before you make it to the machine is always 30 minutes or more.

    I can usually be counted on for triples (all I know is, if I crane my neck to see the level in the bag, it’s full when you get above the bar-code).

    I like how they now ask if you’ve always been male (or female, as the case may be)…and I always utter some variation of “….uhhhhh – yeah! That’s it!”

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  22. adrianne said on September 3, 2013 at 11:32 am

    LA Mary, thanks for the recipe! The corn this year out in the Hudson Valley has been incredibly sweet and delicious, and only 40 cents an ear at my favorite farm stand.

    I used to be a wimp about blood, until my first baby arrived (after lots of blood, sweat and tears) in 1993. After that experience, giving blood seemed so simple by comparison, so I’m a regular at the blood donor place.

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  23. Prospero said on September 3, 2013 at 11:39 am

    Since someone other than I brought up the post swim photos of Diana Nyad I’d like to point out that this is what she lode like the first time she tried this feat. As for why she did it, why’d that guy parachute from a space capsule? Why do people hike the Grand Canyon? Why does young Sheryl Haworth try to lift immense weights? Why do people do Iron Man competitions? Why do people climb high mountains? Identifying challenges and seeking to overcome them is innate in human beings, for one thing. I make a long distance ocean swim once or twice a year (not 1/30th as grueling as Cuba to Key West) and I do it because it’s difficult and because I enjoy pushing myself to do something difficult. Why pick a landmark on a bike ride and sprint like hell to it? Same reason. Whatever Diana Nyad’s motives, they are hers alone, and she is entitled to them. And of course, when you’re swimming nobody notices your scalp is sweating.

    I believe most of the negative commentary on the internets results from the fact that Nyad came out years ago as a lesbian. She is quite outspoken about gay rights issues.But really, the nitwits claiming she shouldn’t have been allowed to do it because of the danger should explain why anybody should be allowed to climb Mt. Rainier, run a marathon or even swim in the ocean or drive on a US Interstate. All of those things are dangerous. Nyad already did Bimini to FLA, so there was little doubt she could handle the distance. And her entire adventure was privately funded, with medical staff and equipment with her all the way. This wasn’t going to cost anybody anything that was not eager to help fund it. Given Nyad’s history of accomplishments, and exxtensive preparation, I’d say what she did was less dangerous than going hunting with Dickless Cheney.

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  24. Prospero said on September 3, 2013 at 11:40 am

    “looked”. Must have typed it and left out the k.

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  25. Scout said on September 3, 2013 at 11:47 am

    One of my only brushes with greatness: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151466291097857&set=pb.582617856.-2207520000.1378223102.&type=3&theater

    My Dad is Dave Brubeck’s biggest fan ever. I grew up listening to him on the Heathkit stereo my dad built.

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  26. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 11:58 am

    How many puns can one make regarding this story?

    http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/03/20303801-having-trouble-with-your-aim-chinese-contraption-helps-you-pee-straight?lite

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  27. Little Bird said on September 3, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    Oh, the head sweats! I’m used to them, but they can embarrassing at outdoor summer dates. In my case, it doesn’t even require an exertion on my part. It’s just what happens.

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  28. Dexter said on September 3, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    I never had head sweats, but as a nervous high school junior I began to have constant horrible underarm sweats when I was under stress. A certain young girl had a lot to do with it, as I couldn’t get her off my mind and I was too young to drink her out of my head. A year later this problem was gone, but after my divorce at age 24 and as I re-entered the dating scene, it re-surfaced, then left permanently when I found my true love and current mate. Girls. I couldn’t live without them and….

    I was recruited by the local Red Cross chief volunteer a few months after I returned from the US Army. She was the mother of a close friend so I said sure, I’ll give blood. I got to the place, I think it was a firehouse, I saw the tables where the ladies had the cookies and juice ready, I saw the nurses or whoever they were with the medical paraphernalia, and I signed in and went to the screening interview. I was immediately kicked out because I had been in a malaria zone withing the taboo time period. I never did go back.

    My friend Rico is an executive with a company that controls the California power grid. Rico does well in the world, but he still loves all sorts of tacos. Last week Rico posted a photo of his table, and for dinner he and his wife had watermelon and “bun tacos”. These were simple beef tacos, but served on hamburger buns. Now that just doesn’t make sense, and I must ask LA Mary, is this a SoCal thang?

    Nyad…my gawd! She looked like a creature from the Black Lagoon or some damn thing as she entered the beach at Key West.
    She’s only a year older than me, but that water and those jellyfish and that broiling sun cooked her but good. I first thought Bill Veeck had been dug up ! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d0W26Ywxpuw/TxdzW_8VtoI/AAAAAAAABGs/pDEw24viZdY/s320/Bill%2BVeeck%2Blast%2Bbleacher%2Bgame-1985.jpg

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  29. paddyo' said on September 3, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    Thanks for the link to the plain-language-substitution suggestion list. And make no mistake: They are suggestions. (Ignore the subhead and read his lead-in sentence again.)

    But Mark P @ 15 and 19 is right, too. Nothing’s absolute; the key is knowing when to say when, and when to say at that time or the point at which or something else.

    I deal daily with fellow federal bureaucrats’ astoundingly wordy copy. This is a great link to share with the ones who gasp at all the “track changes” edits I suggest when asked or assigned to review their bloated correspondence, briefing statements, white papers, etc.

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  30. Peter said on September 3, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    Prospero, I agree with you – Ms. Nyad deserves all the props for that feat.

    OTOH – she swam how many miles and looked like that? It only takes me 30 minutes in the lap pool to match that appearance.

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  31. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 3, 2013 at 1:54 pm

    The only unbreakable rule of writing starts Heinlein’s list (don’t recall how many there were in total): First, you must write.

    And it’s the easiest one to break, but you mustn’t.

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  32. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    Speaking of athletics, if I understand this correctly, the idea is that an ice barrier of some sort will help contain the contaminated waters flowing from the catastrophic nuke-plant meltdown….and the Japanese government’s main concern is whether they can secure the 202o Olympic Games!!?

    http://www.chem.info/news/2013/09/japan-invests-ice-wall-halt-reactor-leaks?et_cid=3458896&et_rid=44004269&type=cta#.UiYfBjbrzNs

    “Instead of leaving this up to TEPCO, the government will step forward and take charge,” said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after adopting the outline. “The world is watching if we can properly handle the contaminated water but also the entire decommissioning of the plant.”

    The government plans to spend an estimated 47 billion yen ($470 million) through the end of March 2015 on two projects — 32 billion yen ($320 million) on the ice wall and 15 billion yen ($150 million) on upgraded water treatment units that is supposed to remove all radioactive elements but water-soluble tritium — according to energy agency official Tatsuya Shinkawa….

    The ice wall would freeze the ground to a depth of up to 30 meters (100 feet) through an electrical system of thin pipes carrying a coolant as cold as minus 40 degrees Celsius. That would block contaminated water from escaping the facility’s immediate surroundings, as well as keep underground water from entering the reactor and turbine buildings, where much of the radioactive water has collected. The project, which TEPCO and the government proposed in May, is being tested for feasibility by a Japanese construction giant Kajima Corp. and set for completion by March 2015.

    But since this scheme may well fail, and they won’t know before 2015, I’d think the IOC’s choice amounts to anywhere except Tokyo!!

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  33. Mark P said on September 3, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    paddyo’ — I’ve worked for government contractors for a long time, and I sympathize. When writing proposals, you never compare RFP (request for proposal) requirements and your company’s plans to meet them, you “crosswalk” them. You never build hardware, you “bend metal.” You never hit a target, you “put steel on target.” The acronyms and initialisms are so obtuse that even government people sometimes have to ask what they mean. There’s no point in complaining. All you can do is (maybe) roll your eyes and keep going. Of course, for the most part, generals don’t want to see words, they want pictures. You would think they’re four-year-olds asking for a bedtime story. Sometimes I think they have about as much grasp of the programs they run as a four-year-old would.

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  34. Bob (not Greene) said on September 3, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    Dexter, a bun taco sounds a lot like a torta, which are fabulous no matter what they’re called.

    http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/lwhd/images/2009/mexicooneplate/8413391_600x338.jpg

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  35. Dorothy said on September 3, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    Darn it Scout, that link won’t work! I’m guessing we’d have to be Facebook friends in order to see the picture?

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  36. Nancy said on September 3, 2013 at 3:08 pm

    My check-engine light went on today, too. My Subaru (don’t you have a Subaru?) has a hair-trigger check-engine light. Dust motes set it off. The service department at the dealership won’t be able to find anything, and eventually the light will go off by itself. But I’m due for my emission testing next month, so I don’t know if I can wait. Sigh.

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  37. LAMary said on September 3, 2013 at 3:19 pm

    I’m amazed you have a VW and your check engine light isn’t permanently on. It’s a common thing. They tell me I have a micro leak in my fuel system. The dealer has never found it but they turn off the check engine light and it stays off for three or four days and comes back. There is always the Magliozzi brothers’ tip. Get a nice roll of black tape and cut off a small piece…

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  38. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 3:48 pm

    …and then call their law firm (or maybe it’s another repair shop) – Dewey Cheatham & Howe.

    Shuttle service provided by a Russian fellow, Peekup Andropov;

    and so on

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  39. Kirk said on September 3, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    My head sweats most when I’ve really laid on the hot sauce at lunch or dinner.

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  40. Hattie said on September 3, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    My head is very sweaty right now. But I prefer getting things done to being bandbox fresh.
    And sure Diana Nyad is exhausted after that swim. But look at that body! I would kill to look like that.

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  41. LAMary said on September 3, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    My favorites are Marge Inaverra, the statiscian and Erasmus B. Dragon, working mothers support group coordinator.

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  42. Jolene said on September 3, 2013 at 4:10 pm

    Here’s a question for the word geeks: How do you feel about the use of gift as a verb?

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  43. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    Hah! You got me laughing, Mary, and then Uncle Google took me here

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/09/car-talk-hosts-to-retire-best-moments-with-npr-s-laughing-mechanics.html

    which is worth a smile or two

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  44. coozledad said on September 3, 2013 at 4:43 pm

    jolene: About the same way I feel about “incentivize”. it’s like someone let a bunch of doorknob-licking MBA’s into the neologism room.

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  45. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 3, 2013 at 4:48 pm

    Yeah, but it’s the most slow motion retirement in show biz history. They’ll still be airing “new” shows when Charles M. Schultz finally “retires.”

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  46. Kirk said on September 3, 2013 at 4:57 pm

    “Gift” is a good noun, a crappy verb.

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  47. MichaelG said on September 3, 2013 at 5:25 pm

    “Gift” is a noun. Period.

    I’ve never heard of bun tacos. How can they be tacos if they’re on a bun? It sounds like some kind of sloppy joe.

    I wasn’t allowed to give blood for years and years because I had malaria a couple of times when I was in the army.

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  48. Mark P said on September 3, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    Jolene, one fights in vain against verbing nouns. There’s one rule of language you can absolutely count on: it changes.

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  49. ROGirl said on September 3, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    I never had hot flashes and I seem to sweat less than I used to. I’m usually cold from the air conditioning, so going outside warms me up to a comfortable level.

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  50. LAMary said on September 3, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Verbing is a noun you just turned into a verb. I think you knew that but I had to vent my outrage.

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  51. David C. said on September 3, 2013 at 6:13 pm

    I just got my 1 gallon of blood donated pin a couple of weeks ago and the only donor I saw go down looked healthy as a horse – before and right up until the time he fainted. You just can’t tell, so it would seem that if you meet the BP, temp, and platelet count they would let you go. As far as I know, the only lingering problem with fainting after donation is embarrassment.

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  52. Scout said on September 3, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    Dorothy, I guess so. If you want to friend me, look on Nancy’s friend list. My first name is Jeanne. I’m guessing she doesn’t have too many of those!

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  53. MichaelG said on September 3, 2013 at 6:30 pm

    I’m guessing Mark was just having fun.

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  54. LAMary said on September 3, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    My maiden name is a gerund so I’m very sensitive about such things.

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  55. Prospero said on September 3, 2013 at 7:17 pm

    Gift as a verb is atrocious. (Regift makes some sense, though I’ve never done it nor used the neologism.) Hate as a noun and not a verb is worse. Hate is a verb. The noun is h-a-t-r-e-d. Growing the economy makes me gag. And one raises crops, not children. Children are reared. And what are people saying when they say verbage instead of verbiage? And should it be pronounced ver-buj or ver-bahj? And anybody that tells you they were tasked to do something is a horse’s ass.

    Didn’t Bun E. Tacos play drums with Rick Nielson in Cheap Trick? Chainsmoker? Pervy looking?

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  56. MarkH said on September 3, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    Oh, for crying out loud:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/the-senates-syria-hearing-live-updates/?id=ed01ca14-222b-4a23-b12c-c0b0d9d4fe0a

    And we’re supposed to take these people seriously…

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  57. Connie said on September 3, 2013 at 7:34 pm

    sad news for Butler fans. Bulldog mascot Blue II has died. I suspect he may be the only dog to have appeared live on the arena floor at the NCAAs. This was not a surprise to his fans, as he had been diagnosed with heart disease. I wonder how many dogs get an obit article in USA Today.

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  58. Connie said on September 3, 2013 at 7:36 pm

    And in more cheerful news it appears my birthday cake is going to be a peach blueberry pie.

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  59. Suzanne said on September 3, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    I don’t have head sweats, exactly, but I have noticed that since I am no longer in the younger set, when I go for a long walk, or exercise with some vigor, it’s when I stop that I start to sweat. It’s like my body can’t regulate itself as well as it used to or something. It’s weird. I go outside, walk for a couple of miles, come in the house, and let the sweats commence. However, “the change” for me was pretty much free of hot flashes, so no complaints here!

    I haven’t given blood in years because it always made me light headed and fuzzy feeling.

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  60. Mark P. said on September 3, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    I used to get upset by what I considered a misuse of the expression “to beg the question” to mean something like “to raise the question” or “to raise the issue.” But I realized that there’s just no point in it. Like it or not, language changes, and you either change with it or join the rest of us fogies and start chasing those darn kids off the lawn.

    This is a blog by a writer, and it seems that many of the commenters here are writers or at least language lovers. If you don’t read Language Log, I suggest that you give it a try. It’s a group blog. It has many discussions about language and lots of other topics. One fairly frequent subject is prescriptivism; they’re not much into it and often debunk prescriptivist’s usage criticisms. LL is a pretty good read a lot of the time, although at least one of the authors on the site can be pretty abrasive. It’s just one of many language-related sites out there.

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  61. basset said on September 3, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    Eleven or so gallons here, including some pheresis time. At IU we used to give blood and then go drink, thinking the alcohol would take effect more quickly. Maybe it did.

    Pros, you’re thinking of Bun E. Carlos, whose brother had been some kind of hostage in the Middle East, maybe in Iran.

    Birthday cake… my birthday was yesterday, we went out to a sushi restaurant with refrigerated tunnels running past the tables, you just reach in there and pull out what you want. Split a piece of some kind of cheesecake or something with Mrs. B.

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  62. brian stouder said on September 3, 2013 at 10:20 pm

    Happy Birthday Basset and Connie!

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  63. Dave said on September 3, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    Bun E. Carlos, (Brian Carlson) drummer for Cheap Trick, is suing his fellow band members, I read somewhere. I think for the usual reasons that band members sue one another. So many (most) bands seem to fall out, sooner or later. I’m guessing they were the most successful band ever from Rockford, IL.

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  64. Dexter said on September 3, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    Cheap Trick Rulez! Rick Nielsen’s been around forever and still kicks ass.

    I wish we had a cycling Cal Bay Area correspondent here at nn dot com.
    The bike/ped path has been opened on the brand new Bay Bridge. One just cannot go all the way to San Francisco from the East Bay yet, not for a couple more years. Read all about it:
    http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Bridge-bike-pedestrian-path-opens-4784120.php

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  65. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 3, 2013 at 11:30 pm

    Band’s from Rockford IL, but Mr. Carlson himself is from Valparaiso, IN.

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  66. Rana said on September 4, 2013 at 3:46 am

    My body’s preferred method of cooling itself is not so much sweating as dilating every vein it has. This works fine in places with drier climates, but in humid ones? Let’s just say light-headed becomes my summer default state.

    This is part of the reason I haven’t donated blood since college – my blood pressure tends to be on the low side at the best of times, which is usually a good thing but it means I don’t have much to spare – but I regularly feel guilty about this, as I’m O-negative, aka the “universal donor” – which also means that if there’s no O-neg in the blood bank on a day I need some, I’m out of luck. There are relatively few of us in the population, so I wish I could donate, if only to keep the karma balance sheet happy.

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