By SHARON K. GILBERT
August 25, 2008

SOMETIMES television inspires; sometimes it disgusts; sometimes it teaches. Last night’s NBC airing of the Chinese Olympics’ Closing Ceremonies managed to do all the above plus more: it programmed and revealed.

If you missed it, I’m betting YouTube will soon have it. Possibly, NBC will run highlights, hoping for continued advertising revenues. But if you were there last night, comfy on your couch, then you may have had the same reaction Derek and I had at the ‘in-your-face’ symbolism called ‘The Memory Tower’.

As with the imagery in Greece back in 2004, China’s pageantry captivated the imagination, and implanted pagan ideas. Greece showed us Mercury bringing fire to humanity, ironically repeated in August on the very night of China’s opening ceremony (08-08-08 — the triple ‘888′ is Christ’s number — read ‘AntiChrist’ or ‘False Christ’ here) when Russia and Georgia opened fire in the Caucasus, the very region where Prometheus (Mercury) delivered his fiery gift. [Read more →]

“I reached into the Dark and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks.” (The Emperor)

“Driven mad by your own flesh…You hate your own existence.” Doctor to Dalek Emperor.

“YOU KNOW the Doctor, you understand him, you will predict his actions.” Thus said one of the Daleks in Parting of the Ways, the final episode of Doctor Who, Season One (originally broadcast in 2005). If you’re not familiar with the Doctor or the Time War or the Daleks, then I strongly recommend you plan a weekend’s viewing, beginning with Season One, starring Christopher Eccleston as the enigmatic Time Lord known cryptically as ‘The Doctor’. [Read more →]

Samwise Gilbert with his Colts blanket.

By SHARON K. GILBERT
July 30, 2008

EVERY DAY is a gift from the Lord. I’ve always believed this, and tried to live my life that way, but recently the concept was driven home in an unexpected way. Some of you may know that I’ve been taking medication for about eleven years for a condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. The disorder is an autoimmune disease that causes one’s own body to mistakenly identify native tissue as the enemy. Consequently, my own immune system has been attacking my thyroid, slowly rendering it useless. I’ve been on very high doses of medication to maintain ‘normal’ body metabolism, but as anyone with Hashimoto’s can tell you, levothyroxin is no substitute for a functioning thyroid. You gain weight and lose energy, regardless. Metabolic processes never seem to normalize as promised–at least mine didn’t. My body temperature remained around 97 degrees at all times, I always had a lingering fatigue, and I’d suffer through annoying periods of ‘brain fog’ and achiness (which may or may not be related to my fibromyalgia–more on that later). The poor old thyroid simply didn’t work.

Until now.

Last Thursday, everything changed. Shortly after Derek returned to work (he comes home for lunch every day–wonderful!), my heart began to skip beats. This is a very strange feeling that I can only describe as like having fluttering in your upper chest. I experienced no pain, just the keen sense of feeling my heart skip beats, then pause, then stop.

Yes, you read that correctly, my heart stopped. [Read more →]