Liver and Onions

I called my parents and they were just sitting down to a dinner of liver and onions. Knowing what I know about the liver – that EVERYTHING goes through this organ – I was not enticed. They seemed to be quite excited to be eating this favorite food, so I didn’t want to ruin their appetites. However, it did occur to me that basically they were eating the filtration system of a cow’s power plant and sewage system. I love the liver, but not to eat!

The Liver Meeting

At my Jazzercise class today, the instructor asked if anyone had any exciting plans for the weekend. My hand shot straight up, followed by my announcement that I am going to San Francisco for the annual Liver Meeting. No one looked remotely jealous that I was going to be immersed in the wonders of the liver, surrounded by hepatologists and other liver-aficionados. Call me a liver–geek, but I am excited. 

Link to the Liver Meeting

Liver-O-Lanterns

For Halloween, I am thinking about carving scary faces out of livers instead of pumpkins. If you saw a shriveled up liver looking like Dean Martin or Richard Burton, wouldn’t you think twice before taking a drink on Halloween?

Fall Colors

It’s autumn and the leaves on the trees are turning colors around my home in the Sierra Foothills. I wonder if my biliary tree is changing colors.

The Liver as a Tool

The other day my husband was trying to operate something heavy. He asked me to help him, so I went into the house and got some chicken liver. He gave me a weird look when I handed it to him. Exasperated, he said, “I was looking for the lever, not the liver!” Time to get my hearing checked.

Humor and Health

The healing properties of humor are well-documented. In fact, if I was a doctor responding to middle of the night phone calls, instead of saying, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning,” I’d say, “Call me in the morning AFTER you have read the comic pages.” It’s a good thing I am not a physician…

Courage

According to Wikipedia, the word for liver (isibindi) means courage in the Zulu language. Thank goodness, Disney used Swahili rather than Zulu, or Simba might have been called Isibindi. I can just picture the snickers after the word got out that The Lion King was really The Liver King.