Tragic Figure: Dr. Herman Taller

Dr. Herman Taller wrote "Calories Don't Count", published in 1961, about his experience as an overweight physician, explaining the mode of eating he used to reduce his weight considerably. The book included instructions on using the diet principle oneself.

With his patients, he recommended a low-carbohydrate diet, one of the aspects of which was to drink poly-unsaturated oil every day. When his patients complained that it was difficult to drink oil, even stirred into water, he had capsules of oil made up for them. That was a mistake; the FDA said his safflower oil doses were not helpful in dieting and he went to jail for fraud.

It was the fatty acids in the oil, as well as in fish (which he recommended patients eat daily), that he was recommending for his patients. Now great numbers of people buy fish oil capsules and other fatty acid capsules to help their health. Of course, Dr. Taller did not separate the fatty acids out of oils. Sadly, he was not even quoted in Dr. Atkins' book, in spite of the fact that he pioneered the modern form of low-carbohydrate diet.

Love It the Way It Is

I have been feeling discouraged by things I have watched, such as the National Geographic Special "Strange Days on Planet Earth", and I was pondering these things when a phrase popped into my head, "love it the way it is".

I think this is good advice for loving humanity, and the earth, as much as it is for an individual. I have to accept humanity for who we are right now, and send out that love energy, in spite of what disastrous things are looming because we have made a lot of bad decisions. Just as with a loved one, I cannot change those decisions, and castigation will get us nowhere fast. Love and creativity is what is needed most, for all of us.

Anne's Seventieth!

I can hardly believe it, but my oldest sister will be 70 on Wednesday. Today she had a celebration with family and friends, featuring a cake she did not even taste. She has lost over 60 pounds this past year. On her front door, was a sign saying "The age you are is the right age". Happy birthday, dear sister!

The Stampede!

For some reason the stags were really wild today. I told Osprey I was going in to fawn around in the Endless Forest, and she arrived shortly after I did. She is the white fawn ... the stags were running around wildly in a small area and leaping as they ran. I can't leap as I run, cause either I dunno how,or fawn can't do it.

New Fence

My son Patrick came over to our house yesterday to move some gardenias that we had planted too close to the house, and he suggested we replace the well-worn pickets on the fence between the house and the garage, which he did, and magnificently. Here it is in progress. The grey wood pieces are parts of the old fence, the posts and rails. The fence is of cedar, which gave my car a divine scent on the way home from the lumberyard.

As Above, So Below

The Upshot

Here is the text of my letter to the endodontist, whom I have never met:

Dear Dr. NameWithheld,

Your office was recommended by Dr. Whojamajiggy, my dentist, so I recently made an appointment to have a root canal. When I phoned, I thought the receptionist was rather curt, but after all, I need the procedure. I was unsure about whether or not I needed an evaluation appointment, because I had had a severe allergic reaction after my only other root canal. She was not terribly helpful, at one point saying in an irritated tone of voice that the only procedures your office performs are root canals. Nevertheless, I planned to have the procedure done.


I was under a lot of stress the weekend before my May 13th appointment, and had myself convinced that the root canal was at 9:40AM. At 8:50AM, your receptionist phoned and demanded to know if I was on my way. Her tone of voice was quite irritated and short. I said no, my appointment was for 9:40AM. She explained it had been for 8:40, and I apologized, saying I guessed we would have to reschedule. She said indeed we would have to reschedule, as you only see one patient at a time, and I had messed up your day. She sounded very angry. I was nearly in tears, having apologized repeatedly, when she sighed deeply and said let’s move on, at which time she scheduled an appointment for May 30th.


Today I decided to cancel my appointment with your office and have my dentist recommend another endodontist. I refuse to be treated unkindly. Perhaps you should consider charging patients for missed appointments, rather than have your staff tongue-lash them.


When a person has to undergo a procedure that is painful and difficult, it is, in my opinion, important that they be treated with care. You have hired someone who is unfriendly, irritable and short with patients; that indicates to me that you do not respect your patients’ feelings. For you it is an everyday procedure. For the patient, it is an unwelcome and dreaded event.

Would It Break My Fingers to Wind a Clock?

I had an "Atomic Clock". To set the time, it automatically connected to someplace that had a real atomic clock; it could figure out what time zone I was in, and it ran on a watch battery. It recently decided I am on Pacific Time, and would not be moved back to Central. After months of mentally adding two hours to the visible time, I decided to purchase a replacement alarm clock. At the hardware store, I found this retro beauty. No batteries, no electricity whatsoever ... it winds up and ticks, like clocks used to do. The alarm also requires winding. I realize this is a tiny droplet in the ocean of battery-operated and electronic gear in the world (truth be told, even in our house!), but I feel terribly virtuous.

The Forest Crowd

Headburro Antfarm and I registered ourselves at The Endless Forest, and this afternoon, we met and explored, danced, and ate fungi off trees, which gave us the ability to bestow different pelts on one another.

Tonight at the pond there were lots of fawns and stags. Don't deer come in both genders? Why are there no does? Well, anyhow, I could not see everyone's symbol/name, which I had never noticed happening before. Everyone was busily changing one another's coat, antlers, and putting masks on one another. I got changed into a frog for a time!

WE CHOSE WATER!!!!!

Thank goodness, my fellow voters and I chose pure water over money ... in my earlier post, I said we had to make hard choices. Much higher taxes, the opposition claimed, would result from the Water Authority purchasing the old golf course. They put up very sophisticated signs all around the neighborhood, making that claim. The incumbents used hand-stenciled signs saying simply, vote for us. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if the opposition wanted the golf course land for development, and profit.

The old golf course aids us in several ways. It provides drainage, an important commodity in this area of heavy rainfall and increasing population. It provides a green space amongst the houses, with shade and walking paths. It also provides the unseen benefit of recharging the aquifer with water filtered down through the soil. Now it will belong to the Water Authority. Way To Go, Voters!!!! YAY!!!!

How to Upset an Endodontist's Receptionist

Misremember the time of your root canal appointment, then have to reschedule for two weeks later.

Last time I had a root canal, I was fine for about 24 hours, then had extreme swelling and pain. The endodontist said I had an allergic reaction. Now I am concerned this may happen again, and I probably blocked out the time of the appointment due to dread.