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La Bene Vita

by Brandiwyn🎶

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1411600

The Good Life.

You Are Welcome Here
Life is good. Let's share it.

New Year, New Strategy
For 2026, I launched a weekly topic rotation designed to help me stay d i s c i p l i n e d while ensuring that you, the reader, always know what to expect. Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire a million followers

and gain official WDC "influencer" status, and I often find myself seduced by whimsy. Thus, my blogging strategy continues to evolve.

So, What Can I Expect?
I'm glad you asked. For now, until whimsy strikes again, here's what you can expect (updated March 2026):

Weekly Theme Posts

Music & music education

The art and business of writing

Owning & managing a small business

Science & technology

Parkinson's disease, type 1 diabetes, and other medical topics

Personal News & Updates

Health news

Family, work and leisure

The Occasional Rant
Although I try to post rants at "What the Fork?" (and you should, too!)

Newly Written Works
When I check off completed writing goals, I'll share the fruits of those labors, if applicable.

Weekly Goals & Progress
I'll establish work and writing goals every Monday and touch base throughout the week.

Comments · Tags ·

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Always Humble Poet PNG- 📓

about 17 hours ago
In response to "A possible cause of the 'silent quitting' epidemic"

I definitely see your point. When one hires someone to do a job, the employee should do the job as directed by the employer. Failing to do so satisfactorily for whatever reason, the employee should simply make any corrections the employer requests, and request (without drama or debate) a clarification to avoid similar issues in the future.
Many years ago, I hired a young man to neatly stack a jumbled pile of old lumber that had been dumped. I showed him exactly where and how to stack it. When I returned a little later to check his progress, I found that he had stacked about half of what should have been stacked in the elapsed time, and he had stacked it about ten feet from the place I'd shown him. He got agitated when I told him he would have to restack what he had stacked because it would be in the way where he had it. He asked if he couldn't just stack the rest on top of the mislocated stack he had started. He never seemed to understand that he had not done what I'd hired him to do. Even his proposed solutions would not accomplish the work as it needed to be done.

1 Like

Elisa the Bunny Stik

Mar 11, 2026 at 11:24am
In response to "Parkinson's Disease - Spring 2026"

Ah, DBS. I am well aware of it thanks to my employer. Even though I work in the IT world of med tech, there are still lots of opportunities to learn the basics if things like DBS. We'll see if I can get back to that kind of extracurricular activity anytime soon.

1 Like

Brandiwyn🎶

Mar 10, 2026 at 7:47pm
In response to "Parkinson's Disease - Spring 2026"

PD research is very well funded, so I'm sure opportunities are there. I have a piano student, Lily. She's 16, but she was 5 when her mom enrolled her, so I've been her teacher more than a decade. Her mom is a doctor, and Lily has decided she wants to study neurology. She knows about my diagnosis - all my kiddos do, so they understand why my voice doesn't work sometimes, why I can't play the instruments I used to, why I drop everything to take meds, etc. So she was super excited to tell me that when she went to Neurology Summer Camp (!!!!!!!!!!), she got to watch a DBS procedure on a Parkinson's patient, live. (!!!!!!!!) This was probably two years ago, so she was 14 or 15 at the time.

For those who don't know, DBS = Deep Brain Stimulation. Until very recently, the procedure could only be performed while the patient is awake. They screw your head into a halo that holds your head still, then implant an electrode in your brain. Some patients require two implants (one for each side, two separate surgeries), and either way, you have to have yet another surgery where they implant the battery in your chest. Sounds like fun, amiright?

In case you're wondering, my MDS said today that I'm the PERFECT CANDIDATE for DBS because I respond so well to levodopa. I'm like.......... thank you? The good news is, there's an option where they knock you out now.

2 Like

Ѧͷͷΐ

Mar 10, 2026 at 7:35pm
In response to "Parkinson's Disease - Spring 2026"

Brandiwyn🎶

Cool! Yeah, a PhD in Neurobiology. I'm a research scientist / data scientist, worked in a lab at a research institute. Very niche, I know. I'm actually trying (and failing) to break out of the academic research trap. Unless you're a tenured professor, it's a very poor career choice. And, turns out, not terribly useful in the real world. Who knew?

But yeah, I really did enjoy the subject and the research. I'd like to go in a more clinical direction so I can actually help people with diseases like Parkinson's. Especially when I read first hand accounts like yours and Carol St. Ann 20yrs (06-26)

2 Like

Brandiwyn🎶

Mar 10, 2026 at 7:14pm
In response to "Parkinson's Disease - Spring 2026"

Ѧͷͷΐ

- That's awesome, and I'm very interested in your project. I speak science and data analysis, lol. My degree was chemical engineering. Did you earn a degree in Neurobiology? What do you do professionally?

Brandiwyn🎶

Mar 10, 2026 at 7:08pm
In response to "Parkinson's Disease - Spring 2026"

Carol St. Ann 20yrs (06-26)

- I'm sorry to hear that. I was diagnosed four years ago, but misdiagnosed with Essential Tremor three years before that, and I'd had a mild tremor for a few years at that point. So I estimate I've had symptoms for ten years. Please let me know if you have questions, any time.

Vocally, I started to slip under pitch. Now, I can look back and realize my breathing was getting shallower. My advice is to keep singing as much as possible, and add breathing exercises to your daily routine. I used my voice less and less because it didn't sound good anymore, which was depressing, but by the time I was diagnosed with laryngeal dystonia and prescribed Botox treatments, I had also developed vocal fold atrophy.

Did the neurologist who diagnosed you do a UPDRS evaluation on you? What tests or symptoms did they identify to support the diagnosis? Are you doing anything to treat it yet?

If you're on Facebook, this is my favorite group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parkinsonsfightclub

And if you're allergic to exercise like I am, GET OVER IT, pronto. Exercise is the only thing proven to slow or stop progression. If your symptoms are mild now, exercise is how you can keep it that way. 30 minutes, 5x per week, elevated heart rate. If you are allergic, I wouldn't mind an exercise accountability partner. I've been lax over the winter. And by lax, I mean lazy.

2 Like

Carol St. Ann 20yrs (06-26)

Mar 10, 2026 at 6:54pm
In response to "Parkinson's Disease - Spring 2026"

Michelle, I've recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's and am only starting my journey. I am a singer, and my voice issue plus a faint, very faint morning internal tremor is what sent me to the doctor for more than my yearly physical.

2 Like

Ѧͷͷΐ

Mar 10, 2026 at 6:20pm
In response to "Parkinson's Disease - Spring 2026"

That is good news! 8 is a great score. I actually know quite a bit about Parkinson's from my studies in Neurobiology. I even did a project where I created a data model to predict a patient's UPDRS using vocal metrics from noninvasive home recordings. Since, as you said, it's primary a motor disorder and the vocal chords are a muscle. How about that for a coincidence!

(The model didn't actually work THAT well, but a good concept.)

1 Like

Detective

Mar 8, 2026 at 11:22pm
In response to "Netflix Reviews: Nuremberg, The Dinosaurs"

I'm going to need to check The Dinosaurs out. I love dinosaurs and enjoy watching dinosaur documentaries. Thanks for the recommendation.

Brandiwyn🎶

Mar 6, 2026 at 3:58pm
In response to "Using Google Ads to Drive Website/Blog Traffic"

Storm Machine

- no, because ironically, we don't teach left-handed lessons. Both hands are required to play all the instruments so we just start training the muscles to do their respective jobs right from the start. The only mention of left-handedness in the blog I think is Taylor Swift's bio. But because it's Taylor Swift, that page gets a lot of traffic.

1 Like

Clear Filter ×goals (4)parkinsons (2)personal (2)characters (1)medical (1)plot (1)recommendations (1)reviews (1)voice (1)

#1109638

Review: 56 Days on Prime Video

March 3, 2026 at 1:51pm

Keith and I binged all 8 episodes of 56 Days on Prime Video over the weekend. On the plus side, the storytelling was gripping. We wanted to watch more episodes on Saturday, bedtime be damned, but there were enough episodes remaining to convince our practical side to wait. The key driver of tension is not actually whodunnit so much as... who died? Sooo many red herrings, twists and reveals in that department. I also liked the way the story follows the lives of both the suspects and th... [Read more]

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