Melavangelism

I’ve never much liked using the word “awareness” to describe what so many of we melahomies are trying to achieve by talking about melanoma, the Rodney Dangerfield of cancers. “Awareness” doesn’t equate to knowledge or understanding, and I’m not convinced that we accomplish much by making more people ”aware” of melanoma if we don’t also teach them that it’s not “just skin cancer”. Thousands of things, some of them quite tacky and mercenary, have been done in the name of raising breast cancer awareness, to the degree that it’s now impossible for any sentient adult with a pulse not to be “aware” of breast cancer. But what do we really know and understand about that beastly killer until someone near and dear to us “gets it”?

In any event, I’ve decided that “melanoma evangelism” , or melavangelism for short, better describes what I’m trying to do with my inconspicuous little blog-- so please call me a melangelist or melangelical, not an awareness advocate. In the unlikely event that someone who hasn’t already checked into The Hotel Melanoma should stumble upon and read some of my posts, I hope they may “get it” before they get it. My reach may exceed my grasp, but what the heck. Even a hacker occasionally makes a birdie.

To the tune of James Taylor’s “Mexico”…



Way down here you need no reason to groove
Feel a fool sunning, your pale hide’s fame
Lose your moles, leave your hide behind, Ray C games

Oh, Melaroad
It sounds so ‘simple’, you just got to know
The sun's made spots, I forgot to check moles
Guess I'll have to glow now

"Americano" bought the creepy fry
‘Cuz his body's still baking, yikes a hide pyre
Weepy "Senorita" with a hide on fire

Oh, Melaroad
It sounds so ‘neat’ ‘til the sun’s sinking moles
Scan's so bright like to light up the night
Make everything all fright

Ray C’s hungry and the money's all gone
The docs at Sloan don't want to talk on the phone
C gets a lot better, spreads back a whole yard; times are hard

Oh, down on melaroad
You never really been so you don't really know
Oh, melaroad
I guess you’ll have to go

Oh, melaroad
You never really been but you’d sure hate to go
Oh, melaroad
I guess you’ll have to glow now
Talkin' 'bout it melaroad
With a oncy-doc down on melaroad
Oh, melaroad