Over the past few weeks, I have been apartment hunting out of town, writing a comprehensive article on natural pain relief for a leading magazine, working on a major contract with a Jewish multicultural client, sorting through my closets -- dividing my life into keep/sell/recycle piles, hosting a yard sale, packing and otherwise preparing to move, and this past week, dealing with a family crisis that lasted four days.

A couple of days ago, I was sitting in the jacuzzi at my gym, when a woman on the other side crossed over and was about to walk into me. "Look out," I said, "You're about to walk into me." The woman paused, looked at me, and proceeded on her collision course. What. The fuck. I curled up into a ball and scooted sideways, to avoid getting banged into. That ...

As I prepare to move from Northern California to Southern California, I am reminded of the importance of location for living with chronic pain. Here in the Bay Area, I live in a vibrant suburb, on a quiet, tree-lined street, where my home office is surrounded by trees and flowering ivy growing on the windows. There are California poppies, a flowering blackberry bush, and other wildflowers right off my front steps, not to mention a ...

Ever since I was a young child, I have foiled the plans of predators. In elementary school, I chased after the bullies, yanked out of their hands the toys they took away from various children, and threw myself between them and their intended victims of violence. In middle school, I threatened the boys who sexually harassed the girls, promising that if they ever even thought about laying a finger on me, I would pummel the crap out of them. I ...

I need help thinking about which health insurance plan I should get. Given that I have literally been blacklisted from physical therapy; that doctors have mostly proven themselves to be incompetent and useless; and that I have been physically injured and emotionally traumatized by the Medical Deities (MDs), I wonder if I should switch my coverage to what's known as "catastrophic health insurance" ($85/month), which will take care of emergency room visits ($100 ...