B.W.S.S.

B.W.S.S. stands for "Busy Writing Short Story." It's the txt slang kids are using when they get trapped in a feedback loop between the real and the figurative that's so intense they just have to write a short story. Like:

Cassandra: Did you watch the inauguration?
Ashton: No, I had to finish this chapter on the Civil War.
Cassandra: How did that feel?
Ashton: a mixture of relevant and irrelevant.
Cassandra: B.W.S.S.

or

Kimmy: Hey, what are you doing?
Shaun: Making a poster for global capitalism.
Kimmy: But that poster reads "msilatipac labolg"!
Shaun: Oh no! I inverted the whole thing! And it didn't take effort, just me not paying attention...and a little luck.
Kimmy: Also, when you think about it, none of it really matters. Everything is the still same, especially our essence.
Lenore: B.W.S.S.

Get the picture? It's really helpful. I wish it were around when I was putting generic Visine called "Artificial Tears" in my eyes in a parking ramp at the Mall of America and I heard on NPR that Ronald Reagan died (true!).


Anyway, here's what's getting all my best BWSSs right now:

Mirror Box Therapy

It's a treatment for phantom pain. It works by the patient putting their amputated limb in the hole of a "mirror box" (pictured above), then moving the non-amputated limb in front of the mirror while watching the reflection. The image in the mirror tricks the patient's brain into thinking the absent limb still exists, and this alone cures the pain.



Want to know more about it? Let me help you with a link I found.

Also, these FAQ bits are great for people like me (people who love to BWSS):
from a blog:

1) Are there any known side effects?

None have been reported yet.
Things that can happen - depending on the condition are:
Lorimer Moseley reported a patient that was so distressed seeing the amputated limb move again that he had to withdraw from treatment.
Another interesting phenomenon is Dysynchiria - if you touch the unaffected limb and watch the reflection pain is felt in the affected limb.

from mirrorboxtherapy.com:

Can I do myself harm using mirror box therapy?
Mirror therapy is not a placebo effect as it reconditions and retrains the brain to normalise its function. It is important to understand that asymmetrical movement, keeping one limb intentionally still whilst moving the other and simultaneously looking in the mirror at the virtual image may worsen the condition.

If we have different BWSS styles and you can't see where I'm coming from, here are some S.S. plot pitches I came up with involing mirror box therapy:

• mirror box therapist looks at images of estranged family every night


• mirror box therapist writing book about life of the Jewish mind before Holocaust


• mirror box therapist's young mistress introduces him to Second Life


• mirror box therapist who is a liar/believes lies too easily


• mirror box therapist protests the building of a large mirror-covered corporate headquarters in his community


• mirror box therapist gets really into magical realism


• mirror box therapist goes tubing down a big two-hearted river

it's endless.

Happy BWSSing!