Category: blogging

SoCS: houseguests

It’s fairly unusual for use to have houseguests but we did this week.

B’s brother and spouse stayed with us overnight as they headed to a family vacation in Maine.

Now, it looks like we may have guests again in a couple of weeks when B’s college roommate heads through on the way to a vacation spot with his spouse.

Sometimes, it’s handy to be located near the intersection of three major interstate routes!
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “guest.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/06/12/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-13-2026/

One-Liner Wednesday: more fatigue

I’ve had a major uptick in my fatigue level so I haven’t been able to manage writing the couple dozen of posts that I wish I had over the last few weeks, but my health care team is working on a new batch of tests, a med change, and probably an additional diagnosis that may eventually lead to improvement, so stay tuned…

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/06/10/one-liner-wednesday-you-know-youre-tired/

One-Liner Wednesday: ditto

My reaction to Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday post today is “ditto.”

Globe Trotter!

WordPress has informed me that I’ve unlocked a new achievement, Globe Trotter. It means that I have received views from 50+ countries.

Okay, it’s taken 12 years but still cool!

One-Liner Wednesday: EDS shirt

May is Awareness Month for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder so I got a shirt!

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/05/20/one-liner-wednesday-summer/

SoCS: sweet taste

My favorite foods are sweet.

I know that humans’ first taste preference is for sweetness. It’s why breast milk is so sweet.

Most people, though, go on to develop preferences for additional flavors. I, though, am not very tolerant of foods that are sour or bitter. Strong flavors are often physically painful for me and I’ve learned that something that most people perceive as mild are often overwhelming for me. This is especially true for hot/spicy foods, like peppers. I also don’t drink coffee or tea, which are just too bitter for me.

I wonder if this taste preference for sweet and intolerance for sour and bitter is a natural defense. One of the conditions that I have is interstitial cystitis, also known as painful bladder syndrome. (It’s probably also related to my hEDS and mast cell activation disorder, but I digress.) One of the ways to help reduce IC flares is to reduce acidic foods as much as possible. Most sour or bitter foods are also high in acid, so maybe my intolerance of those flavors is a self-defense mechanism.

By the way, salty foods are also bad for people with IC so I eat low-salt, as well. I don’t find salty foods physically painful, though, unless it is really, really, really salty, which feels like burning in my mouth.

I’m such a delicate flower!

And sweet! 😉
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “sweet.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/05/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-16-2026/

One-Liner Wednesday: relative threats

New favorite analogy from The Daily Show moment of Zen earlier this week: COVID is to wildfire as hantavirus is to a wet log in a cold fireplace.

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/05/13/one-liner-wednesday-an-oldie/ (Sorry that I couldn’t find the proper citation.)

SoCS: contrast

One of the many things about which I have to be careful is the use of contrast with CT or MRI scans.

We think the reason is that my kidney function is kind of flaky and the contrast agents are hard on kidneys.

The wild card is that my kidneys may be stressed because of a vascular problem related to my hEDS. I have an appointment with a specialist in NYC later this month to investigate.

Stay tuned…
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “contrast.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/05/08/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-9-2026/

100,000!

Yesterday, WordPress told me that Top of JC’s Mind/joannecorey.com has passed 100,000 views!

That’s cool!

I have to remind myself that there are also additional views of my posts because some people read my blog via email and don’t visit the site directly, so would not be counted.

Perhaps, those counterbalance the views that result from random bots. Every once in a while, I have a day where I get the message that “my stats are booming.” Those days seldom result in comments or likes, though, so it’s likely they are bots roaming around WordPress. The exception was April 17 when I suddenly got 35 new subscribers, although, presumably they are mostly bots, too.

The main factor in getting to 100,000 views is that I’ve been around since September, 2013. I’ve had a long time to accumulate views. Granted, some bloggers would be disappointed if they weren’t getting 100,000 views per month/week/day(!), but, fortunately, I’m in this for the sake of sharing and chronicling and communicating rather than as a moneymaker so I can just be grateful rather than anxious about stats.

So, thank you to all my past and current visitors!

Even the bots, as long as they are not being destructive…

One-Liner Wednesday: what leads to strongmen

“Gross inequalities of income, wealth, and opportunity fuel the gross inequalities of political power that lead to strongmen who destroy both democracy and freedom.”
~~~Robert Reich

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/05/06/one-liner-wednesday-is-that-indiana-jones/