Letter: A Major Disappointment
I could have attached a legitimate photo of a sick and starving deer within Fairfax County—but that serves little except to tug at the emotional heartstrings. Overpopulation of deer in Fairfax County is a reality and it is a problem that must be faced square-on, using science, biology, personnel majoring in the wildlife career field and an understanding of the alternative costs of managing the deer herd.
Column: Refillable. Rechargeable. Reusable.
More like replaceable. Obviously, I want to remain positive and believe that today is not a good day to die (Worf from “Star Trek: Next Generation”) and that there will be many more tomorrows to live for and days beyond that to plan for. However, having a terminal disease has a tendency to darken up those rose-colored glasses.
Column: Trip Without a Fall
Recently, for the first time in nearly two years, I took a trip without having my car. Significant to me in that not “having my car” meant not being able to transport/have all my cancer things.
Letter: ‘Somebody Else’ Did Come
State Delegate Dave Albo (R-42) wrote a distorted article [“‘Somebody Else’ Didn’t Come,” Connection, Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2012], repeating a false mantra about business owners that was attributed to President Obama by virtually every speaker at the Republican national convention.
Letter: A ‘Very Angry’ Delegate
Albo’s assertion against unemployed persons rests weakly on the false concept of a static economy. Economic mobility in our nation is truly dynamic.
Letter: They Did Build it
While I don’t agree with Dave Albo on everything, he was absolutely correct with his “Somebody Else Didn’t Come” editorial [Connection, Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2012].
Column: Symptoms or just Sometimes
Making the best of a bad situation, that’s how I roll (I’m a Red Sox fan after all). Some days are easier than others, some symptoms/treatments/results are better than others. And some columns make more sense than others. But that’s cancer for you: an equal opportunity “screwer-upper.”
Letter: Separate and Unequal - II
Your editorial in the titled "Separate and Unequal ?" [The Connection, July 25-31, 2012], addressed the "eye-popping" disparately low admission of Black and Latino students to Thomas Jefferson High School, and the complaint that this was "in voilation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin."
Opinion: First Day of School Coming Up
And never too early for parents to get involved.
The first day of school in most of Northern Virginia is Tuesday, Sept. 4. We don't agree with having the General Assembly dictate the first day of school, requiring the start date to be after Labor Day, but starting school after Labor Day does seem more hospitable than the Aug. 27 start in many other areas.
Column: Diagnosed But Not Sick
Having/being diagnosed with cancer/a terminal disease is neither fun nor funny; however, unless I find some humor or wishful thinking in how I approach this situation, I don’t suppose I’ll be approaching it much longer. To me, it’s always been mind over matter, and even though these matters are rather serious, I still don’t mind.
Column: Life in the Cancer Lane
Having been there and done that now for three and a half years certainly helps. And however familiar it may be and/or has become, it doesn’t exactly help to pass the time or affect the results, unfortunately. Cancer sucks! That much is clear. Now and in the future.
Editorial: Starting School Prepared
First day of school is Sept. 4; local nonprofits provide school supplies and weekend food.
With school beginning in a few weeks, area charitable organizations have been collecting contributions of new backpacks, calculators, other school supplies, money and gift cards and winter coats to help the tens of thousands of truly needy Northern Virginia students.
Column: A Pill a Day…
Hopefully will keep the cancer at bay. (I’d say “away,” but let’s be realistic, three and a half years past a NSCLC diagnosis, there is no way, generally speaking, that stage IV lung cancer disappears into the ether; it’s classified as stage IV for a reason.
Letter: Flawed Diagnosis, Wrong Prescription
Schools in Fairfax and the surrounding feeder counties are extremely diverse. Teachers often have few students who speak English as a primary language. Students are from Africa, Latin America, The Middle East—Europe, Far East and Asia, and more. So, what defines the students who succeed?
Column: Derive to Survive
Now that I can taste food again, or rather have food taste like normal again, my attitude is much improved.