Comedian Tig Notaro’s Legendary Set Now Available Through Louis C.K.
Louis CK’s e-mail regarding this was epic. An excerpt:
Well, Tig is a friend of mine and she is very funny. I love her voice on stage. One night I was performing at a club in LA called Largo. Tig was there. She was about to go on stage. I hadn’t seen Tig in about a year and I said how are you? She replied “well I found out today that I have cancer in both breasts and that it has likely spread to my lymph nodes. My doctor says it looks real bad. “. She wasn’t kidding. I said “uh. Jesus. Tig. Well. Do you… Have your family… Helping?”. She said “well my mom was with me but a few weeks ago she fell down, hit her head and she died”. She still wasn’t kidding.
Now, I’m pretty stupid to begin with, and I sure didn’t know what to say now. I opened my mouth and this came out. “jeez, Tig. I. Really value you. Highly.”. She said “I value you highly too, Louie.”. Then she held up a wad of note-paper in her hand and said “I’m gonna talk about all of it on stage now. It’s probably going to be a mess”. I said “wow”. And with that, she went on stage.
I stood in the wings behind a leg of curtain, about 8 feet from her, and watched her tell a stunned audience “hi. I have cancer. Just found out today. I’m going to die soon”. What followed was one of the greatest standup performances I ever saw. I can’t really describe it but I was crying and laughing and listening like never in my life. Here was this small woman standing alone against death and simply reporting where her mind had been and what had happened and employing her gorgeously acute standup voice to her own death.
The show was an amazing example of what comedy can be. A way to visit your worst fears and laugh at them. Tig took us to a scary place and made us laugh there. Not by distracting us from the terror but by looking right at it and just turning to us and saying “wow. Right?”. She proved that everything is funny. And has to be. And she could only do this by giving us her own death as an example. So generous.
Worth repeating: ”She proved that everything is funny. And has to be. And she could only do this by giving us her own death as an example. So generous.”
My goal all along has been to put this experience behind me as fast as possible before carrying on with life as normal. The cost is insane, the trauma has been considerable. I wish both had been less. But given my options, I am comfortable with my choice. I wish there had been another option, though. I wish there was a way of eliminating these cells without taking out so much of my body. I wonder how long it’ll be till that option exists?The Guardian’s Emma Gilbey Keller • Discussing her 40-day ordeal with breast cancer, which ended abruptly, after she chose to get a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery — a process that was not cheap but prevented a prolonged process. A pretty crazy read, but one that you most definitely should read. (via Katie Rogers)
And the award for best-timed film release goes to … Premiering in Canada today (and the U.S. later this Spring, though they may want to bump that release date up) is a film called “Pink Ribbons, Inc.,” a Canadian film which purports to show the dark side of the Komen for the Cure breast cancer movement along with the “pinkwashing” movement. Seriously. It comes out this weekend in Canada. Of all weekends. So, on top of a PR disaster that strongly damaged their brand is a movie whose release has been planned for months that shows the hypocrisy of said brand. Talk about good timing.
It’s now less clear why Planned Parenthood lost the Komen funding. Komen had initially told the Associated Press that Planned Parenthood could not receive funding because it was under government investigation. But today, in no uncertain terms, [President Elizabeth] Johnson indicated that the decision actually had very little to do with an ongoing congressional probe.
“First and foremost, it doesn’t really have anything to do with that,” she said, adding that she didn’t know “very much” about the investigation because she works “20 hours a day focusing on our mission.”
So why did Planned Parenthood lose funding? Brinker says it has to do with the fact that they do not provide mammograms to women, but only provide mammogram referrals. “It was nothing they were doing wrong,” she explained. “We have decided not to fund, whereever possible, pass-through grants. We were giving them money, they were sending women out for mammograms. What we would like to have are clinics where we can directly fund mammograms.”
Think they’re telling the truth about this?
Susan Komen would not give in to bullies or fear. Too bad the foundation bearing her name did.Writer Judy Blume • Discussing the decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut off its funding to Planned Parenthood, because the organization was under investigation by a governmental organization — a decision met with much frustration and derision from Komen critics, who saw it as a transparent push to move away from a group associated with abortions, though associated with many other things. This has not been a banner day for the Komen foundation, which has raised $1.9 billion for breast cancer research and programs, but may have hurt its long-term reputation with the move — founder Nancy Brinker (whose sister was Susan G. Komen) was grilled by Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC today over the change. With word flying that the group changed its rules to specifically target Planned Parenthood (the “governmental organization” is Rep. Cliff Stearns, a noted anti-abortion activist) and an alleged shift to the right among its staff, activists feel that, with this move, the organization is politicizing a cause that otherwise has wide support. Thoughts? source (via • follow)
Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing blogger, live-tweeted her first mammogram today. Unfortunately, about an hour ago she learned that she in fact has breast cancer. Many are wishing her well on Twitter. Here’s hoping that her bravery and candor inspires other women to get checked, and that she beats this thing.
Oh wow. Xeni is as close as rock star as you’ll get in the blogging game. Best wishes, and hope you kick it. :/
(Source: schlinkblog)
I had planned to be hiking in Wyoming last week, but instead discovered that I am now among the 1 in 8 women in this country — incredibly 1 in 8 — who have had breast cancer.NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell • Making her diagnosis public on her MSNBC show Andrea Mitchell Reports. She says her prognosis for recovery is “terrific,” as the cancer was detected in a very early stage, and her subsequent advocacy for cancer screenings is worth taking to heart: “…screening matters. Do it. This disease can be completely curable if you find it at the right time.” source (via • follow)
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
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» Even though lots of people liked the drug, the FDA has decided that it shouldn’t be used to treat breast cancer. However, European regulators allowed its use (as long as it was with another drug) at essentially the same time — which begs the question, why would the FDA be taking a drug off the market that so many people felt so passionate about?
Avastin saved my life…The studies are saying, they’re saying that people didn’t live for more than five months, you know. And there has to be other people like me that it works on.Kerry Harrington, a breast cancer survivor • Arguing for the case for Avastin, a drug still being tested that treats breast cancer. The drug received accelerated approval for treating breast cancer, but now the FDA is backing away from allowing the drug for breast cancer treatment. This is mainly because Avastin has some pretty horrible side effects, like heart attacks and kidney damage. Many women are saying that the pros outweigh the cons — they’d rather deal with the side effects and know they’re treating their cancer. The FDA will decide after they hear testimony from patients and review other official data. source (via • follow)
» A huge step forward: The study, which involved 4,500 people, represents progress towards a safe-to-take drug that prevents breast cancer in at-risk patients. While anti-estrogen drugs already exist on the market, they’ve had pretty horrific side effects that discourage their use. So far, aromatase inhibitors don’t have any of these side effects — but it’s important to note that there haven’t been long-term studies with this, either. (This is the first time researchers tested an aromatase inhibitor tested clinically.) However, it’s still encouraging and worth keeping an eye on.
» And for the ACLU, there was much rejoicing: The American Civil Liberties Union had taken on the case of two middle school girls suspended from school for wearing breast cancer awareness bracelets with “I (heart) boobies” written on them. In a preliminary ruling, federal judge Mary McLaughlin said they “can reasonably be viewed as speech designed to raise awareness of breast cancer and to reduce stigma associated with openly discussing breast health.”
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