私の生活

niedy @ 2008-01-26T16:38:00

2008-01-26T15:56:05Z

The Adventures of Michael MacInnes

finished the book... was a really fast read... btw. it's targeted at Young Adults...
the story starts with Michael MacInnes transferring to a new boarding school and follows him and the people around him through a year (maybe less)... almost rape, love + sex, drug abuse, mental illness, homosexuality, a guy running amok... it's all in there (though never really explicit)... wrapped up in a nice story package... :)

Set in 1920’s Prohibition-era America, this novel for older readers features eccentric characters in a conservative location. While not exactly historical fiction, the setting does provide a wild ride for characters that appear modern in this unusual setting.

Michael MacInnes is a rebellious teenage orphan who receives a scholarship to an exclusive all-boys high school. Oh the train ride to school, Michael befriends Roger who later turns out to be his roommate. Roger is also a bit of a misfit. Michael’s brilliance lies in his poetry while Roger is an inventor. Both are unconventional, taking risks and defying the rules of the school.

Among MacInnes achievements are steeling the dean’s car, starting an underground school newspaper, knocking out bullies and winning the affection of the prettiest girls in town. Roger, on the other hand, creates a bicycle powered zeppelin out of garbage scraps. With this, he saves Michael from expulsion when he sneaks into an all girls dormitory for an evening of romance.

new book: "Für jede Lösung ein Problem" [=For every Solution there is a Problem]

What would it be like if your family, friends and acquaintances knew what you really think of them?

Gerri writes farewell letters to everyone she knows and tosses them bluntly what she thinks of them. What a drag that the sleeping pills and vodka didn't work after all … and overnight Gerri's life becomes really exciting. Because it is really something when you have to get along with people who know what you really think of them!

-

Books update :)

2008-01-23T21:44:31Z

Into the Wilderness is done... nice book... a bit... uh... lengthy... but nice nonetheless

King Must Die also done... neither the story nor the language got to me... won't read it again... will probably end up on ebay... it's not bad just doesn't fit my taste ;)

example:
When I was seven, the Horse Sacrifice came due, a great day in Troizen.

It is held four-yearly, so I remembered nothing of the last one. I knew it concerned the King Horse, but thought it was some act of homage to him. To my mind, nothing could have been more fitting. I knew him well.

He lived in the great horse field, down on the plain. From the Palace roof I had often watched him, snuffing the wind with his white mane flying, or leaping on his mares. And only last year I had seen him do battle for his kingdom. One of the House Barons, seeing from afar the duel begin, rode down to the olive slopes for a nearer sight, and took me on his crupper. I watched the great stallions rake the earth with their forefeet, arch their necks, and shout their war cries; then charge in with streaming manes and teeth laid bare. At last the loser foundered; the King Horse snorted over him, threw up his head neighing, and trotted off toward his wives. He had never been haltered, and was as wild as the sea. Not the King himself would ever throw a leg across him. He belonged to the god.

The Masqueraders... interesting story... but the language is really not my piece of cake...

example:
The morning's ride sowed promising seeds of a new friendship. The Honourable Charles had an engaging frankness; he kept no secrets from those admitted into the circle of his acquaintance, and it seemed probable that his life might be an open book for Prudence to read if she had a mind that way. With admirable dexterity she steered all talk into channels of her own choosing. She was certainly not squeamish, but half an hour spent in the company of the expansive Mr Belfort was enough to show that the greater part of his reminiscences was calculated to bring a blush to maiden cheeks. Prudence maintained an even complexion, and had sense enough to think none the worse of him for all his lurid confidences. Sure, they were not meant for a lady's ears.

The ride at an end, it was Charles and Peter with them; they might have been blood brothers. Prudence acquiesced in it, but grimaced to herself when she reflected that it had been in her mind to lie close in London. Evidently this was not to be. But there was nothing to be feared from Mr Belfort: the disguise was deep enough to hoodwink a dozen such rattlepates.

She came back to Arlington Street to find Robin posturing above a bouquet of red roses. Robin achieved a simper. "Behold me, my Peter, in a maidenly flutter!"

Prudence put down her whip and gloves. "What's this?"

"My elderly admirer!" said Robin in an ecstasy, and gave up a note. "Read, my little one!"

Prudence gave a chuckle over the amorous note. "Robin, you rogue!"

"I was made to be a breaker of hearts," sighed Robin.

"Oh, this one was cracked many times before!"

Robin tilted his head a little; the merry devil looked out of his limpid blue eyes. "I've a mind to enthrall the mountain," he said softly.

"You won't do it. He's more like to unmask you than to worship at your shameless feet," Prudence answered.

"Oh? Here's a change of front, by my faith! Unmask me, is it? Now why?"

"John was right. The gentleman's wide awake for all we think him so dull."

"So?" Robin awaited more. She told him of the incident at cards the night before. He listened in silence, but shrugged a careless shoulder at the end. "I don't see a great deal to that. Easy enough to see your game if he stood at your elbow. Did you fleece the wolf?"

"Some fifty guineas. We may stand in need of them if this is to continue long. But Sir Anthony -------" she paused.

"You're bewitched. What now?"

"I believe we shall do well to preserve a strict guard before him."

"As you please, but I think you rate a mountain's intelligence too high. Consider, my dear, how should any man suspect what is after all the very light of improbability? Why should so wild a surmise so much as cross his brain?"

"There is that, of course. Plague take the man, he must needs load me with favours!"

Robin laughed. "He takes you to White's, eh? Some little matter of a card-party too, I think?"

"On thursday, at his house."

Robin folded pious hands. ` "I believe my sense of propriety is offended," ' he quoted maliciously.

The shot glanced off her armour. "You've none, child, rest assured."

so my book count is actually down to 2... (excluding the toilet reading ;))

I started "The Adventures of Michael MacInnes"

I suppose it is supposed to be a book for teens... but I can't really put it there... the language, yes... but the topics, no...
not too thick so I should be done with it by the end of the week... maybe... if I actually find the time to sit down and read :)

-

niedy @ 2008-01-19T14:15:00

2008-01-19T13:40:07Z

Comedy Central presents Daniel Cummins...

"You can tell a lot about someone by their email adress...
...
like you see dragonhunter1965...
...
ok, alright... that's a 40 something lonely dude...
...
and then you see sexyladyxxx...
...
that's the same guy
...
["Yeah" shout from the audience]
...
and there he is"

watch the whole show, if you can get your hands on it... I think it's really funny... even the jokes that are not politically correct ;)
It's not the best part of the show, but I couldn't find any other... :)

Books again :)

2008-01-13T17:13:05Z

Right now I'm reading 5 books...

my "toilet" reading (they are slim and not too captivating but still interesting):

a biography of Oscar Wilde

a book about common German grammar mistakes "Der Dativ ist dem Genetiv sein Tod" something along the lines of "Eats, shoots and leaves" if you've heard of that

and 3 novels:

Ilija Trojanow - Der Weltensammler [=The Collector of Worlds] (biographical)

Sara Donati - Into the Wilderness (historical adventure/romance)

When Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, leaves her Aunt Merriweather's comfortable English estate to join her father and brother in the remote mountain village of Paradise on the edge of the New York wilderness , she does so with a strong will and an unwavering purpose: to teach school. It is December of 1792 when she arrives in a cold climate unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man different from any she has ever encountered -- a white man dressed like a Native American, tall and lean and unsettling in his blunt honesty. He is Nathaniel Bonner, also know to the Mohawk people as Between-Two Lives.

Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village, white, black, and Native American, Elizabeth soon finds herself at odds with local slave owners. Much to her surprise, she clashes with her own father, as well. Financially strapped, Judge Middleton has plans for his daughter -- betrothal to local doctor Richard Todd. An alliance with Todd could extract her father from ruin but would call into question the ownership of Hidden Wolf, the mountain where Nathaniel, his father, and a small group of Native Americans live and hunt. As Judge Middleton brings pressure to bear against his daughter, she is faced with a choice between compliance and deception, a flight into the forest, and a desire that will bend her hard will to compromise and transformation. Elizabeth's ultimate destiny, here in the heart of the wilderness, lies in the odyssey to come: trials of faith and flesh, and passion born amid Nathaniel's own secrets and divided soul.

[it sounds bad I know... it's not a trashy romance novel... but nothing serious either... a fun read - counterbalance for "Weltensammler" which is rather mentally demanding]

Mary Renault - The King Must Die (Bildungsroman and historical novel)

The King Must Die is an adaption of the early life and adventures of the mythological Greek hero Theseus. Beginning with his childhood in the Greek city-state of Troizen, the plot follows him through his travels in Eleusis, where he becomes king; in Athens, where he becomes known as the son and heir of the king; and in Crete, where he learns the Cretan sport of bull-leaping. The novel ends with Theseus's return to Athens.
[not really sure yet if I like it... I'm not fond of first person narrators...]

Books I'm going to read next include:

Georgette Heyer - The Masqueraders

Ian McEwan - The Cement Garden

Ken Follet - Pillars of the Earth

MaryJanice Davidson - Undead and Unwed

Jeanne Kalogridis - The Borgia Bride + Die Seherin von Avignon [=The Burning Times]

Stephen Fry - Making History

Lian Hearn - Der Ruf des Reihers [The Harsh Cry of the Heron] (=Clan der Otori / Tales of Otori 4)

Now... if I could just find the time... *sulks*

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T13:07:00Z

The 12 Days Of Christmas (For the politically correct)


On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my
Significant Other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to
me:

TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,

ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of
members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in
their union contract even though they will not be asked to play a note),

TEN melanin deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal
ruling class system leaping,

NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression,

EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products
from enslaved Bovine-Americans,

SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands,

SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products,

FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration,

(NOTE after members of the Animal Liberation Front threatened to throw
red paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens and partridge
have been reintroduced to their native habitat.  To avoid further
Animal-American enslavement, the remaining gift package has been
revised.)

FOUR hours of recorded whale songs

THREE deconstructionist poets

TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses

AND a Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.


:D

Essay: Marriage Arrangments

2007-12-09T17:11:19Z

Another essay... got me an A... (the one about sports was only a B)

The phrase „Love is one long sweet dream, and marriage is the alarm clock.“ illustrates a very common view about marriage in Europe and the USA. Therefore more and more people decide to never get married. On the other hand, in some parts of the world people can not afford to pick and choose and have to let others decide their marriage for them

Although at first glance an arranged marriage does not seem desirable to us, it was also common in Europe not too long ago. There are several points speaking in favour of this system. First of all it can be difficult for women in some cultures to meet people outside their family without risking their reputation. Therefore, getting to know someone through dating and the like is sometimes impossible. Furthermore, for their daughter’s safety and their own welfare parents have to take certain circumstances like social status and political power into consideration and try to make the most of the marriage.

In westernized countries, arranged marriage is often understood as being forced. Although this is true sometimes, it is not always the case. In Japan, for example, people often choose to have their marriage arranged. However, generally spoken in western countries love plays an important role in choosing a future spouse and marriage for materialistic reasons is frowned upon. Yet, intentional or not birds of the same feather tend to flock together and usually people seek someone close to there own social and educational background.

In conclusion, whether or not and whom to marry should be decided by each individual person without pressure. However, it is not important how a marriage partner is found, be it through fateful encounters or arranged by one’s parents. Besides, looking at our divorce statistics marriages out of love might not be as ideal as we may think.

Essay: In the interests of public safety...

2007-11-25T19:22:30Z

...dangerous sports should be banned.

This is an essay I'll hand in tomorrow... Only the last two paragraphs were completely done by me... my ideas and all... the ideas for the others were obligatory, which is imo always hard to work with... I usually can't really relate to them... but anyway... that's what I usually have to do for ILSS 2 (Integrated Language + Study Skills 2)... We usually use material from the IELTS examination as we have to sit a similar test (the "Common Final Test") at the end (19th January) of this term... I really love English... and I know I'm not perfect or anything, but most of the time classes just kinda bore me... most of the things I've already heard in school... I know that's because I wrote a paper in english for OBCCM (Organisational Behaviour and Cross Cultural Management) and did 2 english certificates, for which I already needed linking words, formal english, impersonal style and all that stuff... but anyway... the only things that don't let me get a straight A on everything are things I can't train... well... not really anyways...
vocabulary for starters... there are just times you NEED a thesaurus... or write it differently...
and than there's the way some questions are asked... I especially hate those "Yes, No, Not Given" kind of questions... actually only the "not given" part is really annoying... but still...

aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway... to cut a long story short... have fun reading... if you actually want to... read... that is... ;)

Should dangerous sports be banned?

People nowadays seem to try to get away from their – what they believe to be - boring lives by indulging in audacious leisure activities. This behaviour often leads to serious if not fatal injuries. Seeing it from this point of view banning dangerous sports seems to be a reasonable notion.

This is especially true for sports such as mountaineering, rock climbing, caving and the like. People tend to get lost or trapped or otherwise incapable of getting out or down by themselves. As a result they need to be rescued. Just last week it was reported that a rescuer died during one such mission. Members of rescue teams not only risk their lives for strangers, but in case of something bad happening it also affects the rescuers families. Although, people generally agree that some accidents simply occur out of bad luck with no one to blame, others are simply caused by things such as disobeying rules and one might argue that even one such event is one too many.

On the other hand, how we spent our free time should be our decision. Some rather read a book than jump down a waterfall, but it is their choice and not because it is the only one. Besides, if people can not be trusted to make the right choices for themselves how can they be trusted at all? After all, freedom of choice makes a democracy a democracy and once the banning is started who knows where it will end.

Anyway, who will decide which sport is dangerous and therefore should be banned? Almost any sport involves some risk. Even with a chess figure you are able to stab someone’s eye. It is not likely, of course, but it is still a possibility and that is the point. What about horseback-riding, soccer or swimming? Maybe instead of banning sports we should try to make them safer and people more sensible

Books...

2007-11-12T17:07:05Z

Although I already have a recommendations-post I open one for books only... They play a big part in my life (I love books... would marry them if I could ;) would write one... if I had any talent XD), so they should do so in my blog too ;)

I already posted those:

Stefan Zweig - Beware of Pity (Might be a bit biased... Austrian and all... still... the story is really good)
Lian Hearn - Tales of Otori (supposed to be a book for teens... not sure about that... it could easily be a book for adults... love the story!)
Oscar Wilde - Picture of Dorian Grey (what could I possibly say? ;) )
Sophie Kinsella - Can you keep a secret? (chick lit... amusing and a good read)

and here are some new:

Barry Eisler - John Rain Series (Assassins are bad... right? ;) )

Trudi Canavan - The Black Magician Trilogy (I'm looking forward to the sequel!)

Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre (the language, the plot, the characters... !!!)

John Irving - The Water-Method Man (probably not everyone's piece of cake... read it... decide for yourself :) )

Franz Kafka - The Trial & The Metamorphosis

James Clemens - The Banned and the Banished (Pentalogy, an exhausting story for readers like me, who really feel for the characters in a (good!) book... you never know what will happen the next page... or the next few sentences for that... your favourite character might die... or something... you can never predict it... that can be quite nerve-wrecking, still absolutely worth a read... I just started the 5th book)

Marion Zimmer-Bradley - Avalon Trilogy (yeah, there are more books, but the Trilogy was written by MZB alone) & Atlantis Series & The Firebrand

Barbara Bickmore - The Moon Below (adventure, love, history)

Judith Merkle Riley - The Oracle Glass (historical with a bit of magic)

Arthur Golden - Memoirs of a Geisha (Read it long before the film came out... the film's no good... the book is! :) )

Melissa Nathan - The Learning Curve (chick lit again... nothing deep, but nonetheless a nice read :) )

Paul Auster - The New York Trilogy (somehow reminds me a bit of Kafka... the stories leave you somewhat unfinished...)

ドリームズ・カム・トゥルー - Sunshine

2007-11-11T14:56:41Z

Persuading Annie

2007-11-09T00:02:18Z

I still love this part of a book called "Persuading Annie" by Melissa Nathan... I've yet to read it completely though...

I once already posted this to my other blog (the german one)... but I kinda want to have it here too... :)

And do you know how much fun it is to browse through your blog or diary... there's stuff there you've already forgotten ages ago... really nostalgic... I should try and make a backup or something...

"How are you?"

"Depressed. Life is a black void of meaningless pain, thanks. You?"

"I nearly killed four people on the way here."

"Why is your life so much more interesting than mine?"

"Just lucky I guess."

Reader's Bill of Rights

2007-11-07T23:56:13Z

The right not to read.
The right to skip pages.
The right to not finish.
The right to reread.
The right to read anything.
The right to escapism.
The right to read anywhere.
The right to browse.
The right to read out loud.
The right to no defend your tastes.

I know... read it before... know it already... just wanted to show off my new icon... nothing fancy, as I'm not really good with image editing... but I thought it was cute... and it was as a good as any reason to post those rights... :) It's from a book called "Comme un Roman" (not sure how it was translated into English, but maybe something like "Like a novel") written by the french (i think) Daniel Pennac... one of the books on my to-read-list, which somehow never gets shorter... only longer... dunno what it is with those books... I can't get enough of 'em... really addictive...

Went out for some cocktails with the girls from university... the cocktails where good... some good looking guys too... but all of them where too young... we kinda went like "Give him a few years, and he'll be a real looker!" Somehow you'd think we're talking about wine... ah... whatever... as you get older, so does your taste... though I can't really imagine to ever find 40 somethings attractive... in a "I want to get him into my bed and fook him senseless"-way... but that's what I said some years ago about 25+ people... *sigh* I'm not sure, I like that development

Now I'm going to bed...

A fly, a fish and a few more ;)

2007-11-06T13:04:59Z

In the dead of summer, a fly was resting among leaves beside a stream. The hot, dry fly said to no one in particular, "Gosh...if I go down three inches I will feel the mist from the water and I will be refreshed."

There was a fish in the water thinking, "Gosh...if that fly goes down three inches, I can eat him."

There was a bear on the shore thinking, "Gosh...if that fly goes down three inches, that fish will jump for the fly...and I will grab the fish!"

It also happened that a hunter was farther up the bank of the lake preparing to eat a cheese sandwich. "Gosh," he thought, "if that fly goes down three inches..and that fish leaps for it...that bear will expose himself and grab for the fish. I'll shoot the bear and have a proper lunch."

Now, you probably think this is enough activity on one river bank, but I can tell you, there's more to the story...

A wee mouse by the hunter's foot was thinking, "Gosh, if that fly goes down three inches..and that fish jumps for that fly...and that bear grabs for the fish..the dumb hunter will shoot the bear and drop his cheese sandwich."

A cat lurking in the bushes took in this scene and thought, "Gosh, if that fly goes down three inches..and that fish jumps for that fly...and that bear grabs for the fish..and that hunter shoots the bear, and that mouse makes off with the cheese sandwich, then I can have mouse for lunch."

The poor fly is finally so hot and so dry that he heads down for the cooling mist of the water.

The fish swallows the fly...

The bear grabs the fish....

The hunter shoots the bear...

The mouse grabs the cheese sandwich....

The cat jumps for the mouse....

The mouse ducks....

The cat falls into the water and drowns.

NOW, the Moral of the Story is....

Whenever a fly goes down three inches, some pussy is gonna be in serious danger!

Get it? If not, you're WAY too innocent ;)

-

Getting AIDS out of the blue

2007-11-04T10:52:01Z

Following arcticle was part of today's Daily Mainichi... Kinda frightening to think about it... but NO SEX without Condom! people can be so stupid and thoughtless when it comes to their own bodies...

"Sudden AIDS" is a feature of AIDS contraction in Japan. Even though the HIV virus lies dormant in the body for months to years, there is so little interest in being tested for it in Japan that many people don't know they have contracted it until they actually develop fully blown AIDS.

The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, works by taking over the immune system, which opens up the opportunity for all sorts of diseases and malignant tumors to arise in the disease called AIDS. According to the 2006 government report on AIDS, heterosexual sexual contact was the most common way for people in Japan to develop AIDS from 1985 to 2006, accounting for 42 percent. Homosexual and bisexual sex accounted for 28.3 percent of cases over the same period, injections 0.8 percent and mother to baby transmission 0.4 percent. Nearly all the AIDS cases in this country are the result of sexual transmission.

Even after somebody has contracted HIV, they can't find out right away. What that leads to is people going around spreading the disease unknowingly for longer periods of time. This can go on for months or even years. They then get sick, go to a hospital for treatment and discover they have got AIDS. That's what makes me scared, because the number of Japan's known HIV patients is too small for the number of its AIDS patients. AIDS experts say that the number of reported HIV carriers in Japan is only the tip of the iceberg and that the actual figure could be a shocking three to seven times more than what is currently known.

There was a massive increase in people taking HIV tests at public health centers in 2006 to 116,000 people, possibly thanks to a widespread public advertising campaign informing people that they could be tested for HIV antibodies at such facilities on weekends, at night, for free and anonymously. But I think the situation still needs improvement and people could be more active in undergoing HIV tests. The media makes a big fuss about AIDS around World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, but otherwise couldn't care less about it. But with AIDS, early discovery and early treatment is essential to make sure that it doesn't become the deadly disease that it can be. Giving people more opportunities to take an AIDS test is an important concern that public health authorities are tackling.

While it is a fact that the number of people who discover they have contracted HIV during a public health center is increasing, at the 18th Japanese Society for AIDS Research meeting in Shizuoka, officials from the Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital showed that 75 percent of HIV contraction discoveries were made at medical institutions, 9.3 percent at public health centers and 3.4 percent after having donated blood. The report showed that many HIV cases are only discovered at medical institutions after the patient had fallen ill or pregnant, was preparing for an operation, or some other reason. They discovered something was happening with their body, sought medical treatment and found out they had the disease. That's the phenomenon I refer to as Sudden AIDS.

It would be ideal if everybody who's ever had sex without using a condom went to their public health center and had an AIDS test, regardless of whether they had noticed any symptoms. But a majority of HIV cases in Japan are still unearthed at medical institutions. I recommend anybody who has ever contracted a sexually transmitted disease like gonorrhea, hepatitis A or B or anyone who currently has an oral fungal infection, chronic itchiness or anal warts to undergo a test for HIV contraction.

With Sudden AIDS, there are times when the delay in treating the disease means that survival is no longer a possibility. And the cost of treating the disease becomes much higher than it would have been had it been detected earlier. To counter these problems, it is vital to discover the afflicted as quickly as possible before the disease worsens. (By Dr. Kunio Kitamura, special to the Mainichi)

いきなりエイズ

　「いきなりかい？」。仲間由紀恵の出演している携帯電話料金のＣＭではありませんが、わが国のエイズ（ＡＩＤＳ）の特徴は「いきなりエイズ」。感染から発病まで数カ月から十数年かかるというのに、検査に無関心な日本人の場合、発病して初めて感染を知るという人が多いようです。

　もともとは自分のカラダの中に存在していないＨＩＶ（後天性免疫不全ウイルス：エイズウイルス）が、何らかの理由でカラダの中に入ってきて、カラダの抵抗力を奪ってしまう結果、様々な感染症や悪性腫瘍にかかってしまう病気をエイズ（後天性免疫不全症候群）といいます。平成１８年エイズ動向調査報告によれば、１９８５年から２００６年までのエイズ患者累計の感染経路は異性間の性的接触が全体の４２．０％を占めてトップ。同性間の性的接触（両性間の性的接触を含む）２８．３％、静脈注射・薬物濫用０．８％、母子感染０．４％と続きます。大半が性的接触をきっかけとして感染が広がっていることになります。

　しかし、ＨＩＶに感染してもすぐに症状が現れるわけではありません。そのため知らず知らずのうちに他人に感染を広げてしまう期間が長く続きます。この間、数カ月から十数年。その後、発病して医療機関を受診しエイズの診断を受けることになります。したがって、エイズの患者数に対するＨＩＶ感染者の数が、ことのほか少ないのは気になります。エイズの専門家からは、ＨＩＶ感染者の報告数は氷山の一角で、実際にはその３～７倍にも上るというショッキングな発言もあります。

　ＨＩＶ抗体の検査が保健所において休日や夜間の検査、無料・匿名で受けられるという公共広告機構が提供するテレビＣＭが奏功したのか、保健所における検査数が２００６年には１１万６０００件を超えました。そのことから感染者数が急増したことは十分に考えられますが、まだまだ積極的に検査を受けようという機運が高まっていないのが現実です。メディアも１２月１日の世界エイズデーだけは盛り上がるものの、日ごろはまったくというほどに取り上げがありません。今でこそ、早期発見、早期治療が適正に行われるならば、死に直結するほどの病気ではなくなりつつあるエイズのこと。その意味からも検査数をもっと増やすことが公衆衛生上重要な課題になっています。

　確かに保健所で行われる検査で感染の事実を知る例は増えていますが、第１８回日本エイズ学会（静岡）で発表された都立駒込病院の報告によれば、ＨＩＶに感染していることが発見された場所は医療機関が７５％を占めており保健所は９．３％、献血３．４％に過ぎません。医療機関では、具合が悪くなって受診して、妊娠したときに、入院時あるいは手術前などに、検査が行われて発見される例が多いようです。ということは何らかの自覚症状があって医療機関に受診した時には「いきなりエイズ」という結果にもなりかねません。

　自覚症状がなくてもコンドームを付けないセックスを経験したことが心配だと保健所で検査を受けるのが理想ですが、実際は医療機関での受診を契機に感染が判明するのが大半を占めている以上、過去に性感染症、梅毒、Ａ型あるいはＢ型肝炎になったことのある人、現在、口腔内にカビが生えている、慢性的に痒みがある、肛門周辺部にイボができているなどに気づいたらＨＩＶ感染を疑って医療機関を受診することをお勧めします。

　「いきなりエイズ」では、治療が手遅れになり結果として救命できないことがある、感染に気付かないうちに他の人に感染させていることがある、早期発見した場合よりも医療費がかかるなどの問題点が指摘されています。これらの問題を回避するには、重症化する前の早期発見こそが重要だということになります。

Recommendations

2007-10-30T13:46:16Z

Things I watch/read (or have watched/read) and would recommend giving a try... :)

American TV Series:

House M.D. - "Work smart, not hard." and that he does... it's certainly a great and entertaining show... 4th season airing
Bones - some scenes are a bit disturbing or rather disgusting, but the characters are intriguing, 3rd season airing
Aliens in America - quite funny and socio-critical, 1st season airing
Moonlight - only watched 1 ep so far, but seems interesting... its about a private investigator who also happens to be a vampire..., 1st season airing
Painkiller Jane - cancelled :(
Traveller - cancelled :(
J.A.G. - it's over... 10 seasons... about military lawyers.... was interesting imo

Asian TV Drama:

Goong - definitely a must-see (!!!), Korean
Hana Kimi - both the Taiwanese and Japanese Versions are good
It started with a Kiss - very nice, chinese
Hana Yori Dango - 1+2 a must see, Japanese
Beautiful Live - so sad, Japanese
Good Luck - liked it a lot, Japanese
Full House - nice + very well known, Korean

Anime:

Bleach - airing, over 140 eps, funny + exciting
Meitantei Conan - airing, close to 500 eps, interesting :)
Dennou Coil - airing, I don't really know why I like it, but I do ;)
Kimi Kiss Pure Rouge - airing, kinda cute, dunno much yet...
Lovely Complex - finished, cute + funny
Tenshi na Konomaiki - finished, hilarious

Books:

Stefan Zweig - Ungeduld des Herzens (Beware of Pity)
Lian Hearn - Tales of Otori
Oscar Wilde - Picture of Dorian Grey
Sophie Kinsella - Can you keep a secret?

I'll try and update it whenever something comes to my mind :)

-

First... maybe last?

2007-05-18T20:59:39Z

Let's see... I actually have another weblog... in german, for my friends, to keep them up-to-date... years ago I got this account and never really used it... should change that... maybe...

well for now that'll be my first entry :)