Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

Glenn Reynolds links to the New York Times, "Ailment Can Steal Youth From the Young."

Glenn updates with some reader correspondence.

Love Blooms After Wounded Soldier Returns from Afghanistan

At WaPo, "Love for wounded soldier upon return from Afghanistan."

Rebecca Taber and the Army lieutenant kissed on the sidewalk outside her 16th Street apartment.

They had met through friends and had spent, at most, six hours together over the course of two evenings. In a few weeks, 1st Lt. Dan Berschinski was going to Afghanistan, where he would lead a platoon of 35 men. It was June 2009.

Rebecca, then 23, noticed the black memorial bracelet that he wore as a reminder that his soldiers’ lives would depend on his decisions. “It made me think that he was mature,” she recalled. The looming danger of his combat tour only added to the evening’s excitement. Rebecca felt as though she were playing a part in a movie.

She had graduated from Yale University one year earlier, where she had been student body president. She was slim and pretty with a high forehead and dark hair. People told her that she resembled actress Natalie Portman.

Like most of her friends, she knew no one her age in the military and gave only passing thought to the wars. Speaking to students at Duke University last year, former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates lamented that “for a growing number of Americans, service in the military, no matter how laudable, has become something for other people to do.” He could have been describing Rebecca.

After graduation, she landed a sought-after job working for McKinsey & Co., a management consulting powerhouse that each year hires a small number of the country’s best college students. She was one of those earnest Ivy League graduates who come to Washington convinced that it’s their destiny to do something of consequence.

Earlier that night, at a U Street bar, she had asked Dan if he was scared of combat. The 25-year-old lieutenant said his biggest worry was making a mistake that would cause one of his soldiers to be injured.

As they kissed on the sidewalk, Dan’s mind shifted to less consequential matters. He wanted to get upstairs to her apartment, but she kept putting him off. She had work the next morning, she said. Her Indian roommate’s conservative parents were staying in her spare bedroom. She barely knew him.

He reminded her that he was leaving for war in just two weeks and gave it one last shot.

“Don’t let me die a virgin,” he joked. She turned him away.

What a guy.

Keep reading. An amazing story.

On Making Love and Having Sex

From David Solway, at Pajamas Media (via Instapundit):

Today there is no doubt that we tend compulsively to think in terms of object, function, or mechanism whenever we consider the incalculably human. Love is something to be “worked at” like a problem in mathematics that must be solved for the sake of its practical application. Friendship is called a “support system.” A Pascalian terror before the cold immensity of the universe is excessive “stress,” as if one were absorbing too much force for the mental “structure” to distribute and resolve successfully. For post-structuralists, a novel or a poem is only the manifestation of an “abstract model.” Wisdom is a kind of “flexible adaptability.” Desire is libidinal “tension” which must be “discharged.” And what was once called “making love,” an expression that however glibly it was employed still retained the implication of a genetic mystery, is today airily dismissed as “having sex,” a phrase which seems to concede in the direction of honesty but really betrays our attitude of therapeutic mechanism — like having an enema, a check-up, or an operation. Sex is an excellent way of running the machine.

Rock Bottom

Read Neptunus Lex, "The Elephant in the Room" (via Dan Collins). Say a prayer and count your blessings as well.

Up in the Air

This is one of those spiffed up movie trailers with added commentary, but the young lady gets it all wrong. Watched "Up in the Air" yesterday afternoon. The corporate downsizing is a timely backdrop for a movie that's really about the meaning of life. And I'm not going to spoil anything for readers. I watched it on Cinemax. I can say that the big surprise of the movie is simply, absolutely devastating, and it's not a moment dealing with job loss. See the film. Think about those priorities --- those relationships Clooney's character Ryan Bingham mentions in his downsizing speeches at the clip. Manohla Dargis has the review, "Neither Here Nor There." Get it on Netflix if you're not plugged into cable movies.

Stop Calling Him Honey and Start Having Sex

Ha!

What a book: Stop Calling Him Honey and Start Having Sex: How Changing Your Everyday Habits Will Make You Hot for Each Other All Over Again.

Via Glenn Reynolds.

That's cracking me up because my wife and I call each other "honey" exclusively.

Truly Madly Deeply

How about something more beautiful, compared to all the anti-demonology blogging yesterday? Enjoy Savage Garden:

She Drives Me Crazy ... I Can't Help Myself...

Heard Fine Young Cannibals on the radio during drive time this morning. "She Drives Me Crazy" reminds me of a woman, way long ago, who picked me up cold at Fresno's Wild Blue Yonder, a happening Tower District nightclub, now defunct. I was just coming off a bad breakup. But who's to quibble when a hot blond falls in your lap. I don't see her on Google, so no need to mention her name. But come to find out later that she's friends with my wife's step-brother's wife. Long story short, when I saw the woman at their wedding it was a shock. I'm married with children by this time, which made it very weird, TSTL. She had a conveniently sketchy memory, which is I guess what happens with folks trying to live down their wild years. Anyway, she drove a Mustang and rode horses back then, in Fresno. Had Fine Young Cannibals on the brain all the time, in the summer of 1989. Weird memories the radio brings up. Interesting band, in any case. Glad I found my wife, that's for sure. We love each other and there's no deception:

'Cast Away'

Between errands, I caught most of "Cast Away" earlier this afternoon. I remember when the film came out some of the reviews were tepid. But it's one of my odd favorites, and not so much for the island survival sequences. It's the promise of love that's lost between Chuck and Kelley. I've mentioned this before, but when I seriously injured myself in 1981, I lost the love of my life, Kathleen. When I was healthy again it was too late, and then of course, perhaps I shouldn't have gone out that night in the first place, and well ... Oh, I'm sure readers have a story of love's lost promise with which they can relate ...

And exit question: What ever happened to Helen Hunt? I just love her ...

Programming Note: I'm going to watch "Quantum of Solace" at 6:00pm (on Showtime), but I'll have some more blogging later tonight.

Matchmaking: '$55,000 for 28 Months of Unlimited Introductions'

Getting ready to watch "The Bachelor" in a little while. So, let me share some day-after-Valentine's blog stuff. From the Los Angeles Times, "Matchmakers' Personal Touch Thrives Despite EHarmony, Match.com":

Like social networking, which had many dating industry experts inaccurately predicting the demise of paid Internet dating sites, Internet dating hasn't killed matchmaking, but fed it. In fact, the three go hand in hand, leading relationship-minded singles to ever higher levels of paid service.

Though social networking sites such as Facebook may bring people together and do it for free, there's no guarantee that those brought-together people are available and looking for a relationship. And though Internet dating sites such as Yahoo Personals do a better job of bringing together singles who are motivated to get together because they are paying to find dates, they don't always do a good job of sorting out the serious from the players, or even to help individuals select people who are truly good for them.

Personalized matchmakers promise to do just that. Of course, they also charge a higher price — anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000, depending on the exclusivity of the service, the number of matches they've said they'll provide and how willing they are to go the extra mile.

"You're the therapist, the mother, the best friend, the sister, the nonsexual girlfriend. You have to be everything," said Patti Stanger, star of the Bravo reality TV series "The Millionaire Matchmaker" and proprietor of the L.A.-based Millionaire's Club matchmaking service.

"It's not good enough to say, 'Here's a nice girl.' You get them a girl, they'll sleep with that girl, cheat on the girl. Then I've got to get that girl back. I have to go in and do an intervention and be on call seven days a week. That's why I get the big bucks," said Stanger, who charges men a minimum of $25,000 a year and female "millionairesses" $55,000 for 28 months of unlimited introductions. (She finds her female clients take longer to match.)

Whether it's hooking up her clients with a personal stylist to improve their appearance or enrolling them in an improv class to get over their shyness, "there are 5 million things to do," she said. There are more details to attend to with clients: manners, appearance, expectations. "In the old days, it was, 'OK. I know who I'm going to give you. Here she is. Bye.' "

More at the link, especially the discussion of April Beyer of Beyer & Co.

And that's the lovely Karen Alloy at the video.

Phoenix Cabbie to Donate Kidney to Women He Drove to Dialysis For Two Months

My wife asked me to post this story from CBS News, "Cab Driver to Donate Kidney":

A Phoenix woman in need of a kidney transplant will receive a kidney from the cab driver who drove her to kidney dialysis appointments for two months. Steve Hartman reports.

Congratulations to Ann Althouse!

Ann Althouse is getting married.

"Let there be no doubt about it": Blogging is good for your love life.

Congratulations!

Photo Credit: "Goodbye to Cinncinati."