Old Blue

Exactly. The “forever human cost” is precisely what overwhelmed my emotions when—two decades later—I I saw my friends’ names on the wall.

I lost two fraternity brothers in Vietnam; both were Marines. When I found their names on the Vietnam Memorial years later, I couldn’t hold back the tears. My first impulse was to try to hide my face but then I realized almost everyone I had seen, at a minimum, had tears in their eyes. It’s a magnificently moving memorial.

Fortune and Men's Eyes: a very young Don Johnson and a very young Sal Mineo.

Sex between men, not skin contact, may be source of transmission: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-health-and-wellness/sex-men-not-skin-contact-fueling-monkeypox-new-research-suggests-rcna43484

During the 70's, 80's, and 90's (before Lupron was commonly used), I saw many men (patients) who had had their balls cut off in treating prostate cancer. They generally didn't like it. Interestingly, hot flashes was often their presenting complaint. I retired from the practice of Internal Medicine in 2006 so I admittedly am not up to date. Perhaps I should have written "but chemical castration is now generally preferred." When I went to get the results of my prostate biopsy in 2008, my urologist informed me of my Gleason score 9 results on all biopsies and gave me my first Lupron injection before I left the room. We didn't spend a lot of time discussing the pros and cons of having my balls cut off instead. Ironically, I retired in 2006 and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008. Such is life.

Men generally don't like to have their balls cut off. A simple Google search: Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with surgical or pharmacological castration has long been a mainstay of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. However, due to concerns about cosmetic and psychological effects of surgical castration, that practice has been nearly eliminated in favor of medical castration.Jan 21, 2016

The worst aspect is that prostate cancer feeds on testosterone. Treatment therefore often includes medication to (1) block endogenous production of testosterone (chemical castration) and (2) block the effect of testosterone. Not too long ago, treatment of prostate cancer included surgical castration (orchiectomy) but chemical castration is now preferred. Life without testosterone can be radically different. Reduced or absent libido, loss of muscle mass, increase in fat, depression, and hot flashes are but some of the unpleasant results. I experienced all of the above back in 2008-2009 when I turned up with a Gleason 9 (on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most aggressive) prostate cancer on 8 out of 8 biopsies. Prognosis was bleak and surgery was out of the question. I fortunately became enrolled in an NIH clinical trial consisting of radiation followed by chemotherapy over the course of 9 months. Lost all my hair but best thing I did was hire a trainer and go to the gym 3 times a week to minimize muscle loss. This also enhanced my sense of well being immensely. My cancer went into remission and remains in remission. But definite changes in my life remain. Think Alan Turing on a less extreme scale. Still I'm thankful to be alive.

Canadian Border to Stay Closed to Nonessential Travel until at least early July..... https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/09/canada-border-travel-492914

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain On the Road by Jack Kerouac Both are chock full of exciting adventures set against a backdrop of constantly changing locations and environments. Rereading enables me to meet again with old friends and vicariously relive our adventures.

I'm scheduled to get my first vaccination for COVID 19 next week and my second shot on Feb 2. Although I'd like to believe I can resume travel, etc., immediately thereafter, I'm told I should not. The main concern, as near as I can tell, is that I can still be a vector of disease and carry COVID 19 to others. How long after vaccination does one have to remain chaste and avoid travel?

Slightly off topic, but I remember Marlin Perkins with fondness:

This year, the charity I contribute most to is the local food bank. More people need--and use--this service than ever before.

Be careful. Be very careful. https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_64cab68a-342d-11eb-a5ef-e79a469aae62.html

An escort I hired many years ago while visiting Colorado Springs later appeared on TV as the escort who outed Ted Haggard in 2006. Ted Haggard, the pastor of a large church in Colorado Springs and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, had hired the escort over three years and once even asked him to procure some crystal meth to use. When the escort was in the gym one day, he happened to see Ted Haggard on TV excoriating gays and decided to publicly out him. All of this was reported by Jon Stewart who used interviews by Richard Dawkins to expose Ted Haggard's hypocrisy. The escort is incidentally pictured in the last half of the segment:

At the height of his career, he had a remarkable political conscience. Although this interview is over fifty years old, it is heartbreakingly relevant today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNWxtr3is6k:316