Sep102008
Kiwis, Feet, and Learnin’
Filed under Music,School by Kim at 2:07 pm on Sep 10 2008
It’s been an eventful few weeks, even if the events aren’t as big as rock camp or a trip to progday. But “everyday” concerns have been moving forward too. This reminds me, I need to write an about page explaining why I called this blog Prosaic Paradise.
Class started! In fact we’ve already dissected a sheep’s heart and have an exam next week. Despite being confident I could decipher any tricky exam questions about blood types and agglutination, I continue to screw that up. Mainly because this professor is a big fan of the “tricky” question. I am trying to clear my schedule of social obligations so that I can maintain my crushing success, but… I just like them so much. A Genesis forums gathering is coming up, for instance, that I am waffling on. I did replace my LLBean backpack after much hand-wringing and an attempt to remove the lining of my old backpack with masking tape. You’ll be seeing “what’s in my bag” posts in no time.
Work has been a big success in some ways. Since we got a new guy I’ve been really busy getting a significant amount of actual work done, and having someone newer than me + producing actual docments (no matter how mistake-ridden) has me finally feeling like a contributing member of the team… after 11 months. On the other hand, having my work in the hands of its intended audience means lots of feedback in a short amount of time, which sort of overflowed my emotional levees a few weeks back and I had an embarassing cry in front of coworkers. It was very unprofessional and also something I felt I could not physically control! So that bit. My first review is coming up and I cannot wait to get that over with.
We had another meeting of Book Club which was well-attended and provoked a bit of discussion. I have to say I do recommend the book last month, Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata. If you ever thought that Atkins invented the low carb diet or judged someone for putting on weight they’d lost or been on a diet at all, this book might bring to light some studies you’d like to know about or should know about. And while I’m recommending books, I am just finishing up one from Audible I can’t express enough admiration for: The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks. This memoir humanizes mental illness in a way I hadn’t read before and opens a door into the world of a mind in turmoil. As someone who couldn’t get enough of firsthand stories of multiple personalities as a teenager, this is a terrific – and much more scholarly – examination of the experience of being schizophrenic. My only disappointment is that I am not getting a great description of how she managed to get so much done while struggling with the disease! Law school for crying out loud. I need to know how to do that much work when I’m NOT mentally ill.
We went into a tizzy (definition: I went into a tizzy, Jack cleaned) cleaning up the downstairs to have a few people over to see Nate off to NY. Well, ignore for the moment that he already moved to NY. It was a lovely night! And further proof to both of us that we need to have more parties. Moving the now-ridiculous amount of musical equipment always seems so daunting. If I could convince myself to get rid of the bed, I could move the practice room upstairs… a ponderance I continue to put off.
I also got to see the Liam Finn show at the Rock and Roll Hotel in DC. I admit the place is kind of nice, with little spots to relax in, at least until they pound away with the oontz oontz music at the upstairs bar. The show itself was amazing, just like the last two times I managed to see him, only with twice the crowd this time. He didn’t seem to hang around after the show this time, sadly. My foot was pretty upset about standing on concrete floors for that long anyways, AND I ran into an old friend from the cam! Alan was there supporting his friend who was DJing. A happy happenstance.
The next day, I thought I was supposed to have a tattoo appointment. I had psyched myself up to go alone and everything. It turned out, both myself and my artist were confused (thank god) because she didn’t show up when it was supposed to be. So I dodged a bullet on that one! Except for the fact that I had to drive to Leesburg. And the fact that I don’t have the next part of my tattoo yet. Her new shop is right in historic Leesburg in a cute little building! It’s really nice. Anyways, I just drove the hour back home listening to some angry music and as I approached the house I noticed an auto show was going on at the town hall. So I walked down there and took some pictures! I mean what better place to excercise one’s camera.
All during all of this, my foot has been jacked up. I have this band of inflamed something across (from side to side, buh?) the bottom of my left foot. I can’t remember any particular trauma, tripping, stepping on anything, so my doctor (I finally got to go to the flipping doctor after a week of limping around) just gave me a NSAID (Relafen) and told me to see if that makes it better. I’m wearing ugly sneakers everywhere and I miss wearing my chucks (I tried insoles and they work a bit but the sneakers make the hurting stop). Today I wore my Docs and I basically ready to give them up because they make it worse. My doctor, by the way, recommended I replace any old shoes I have. Considering most of my shoes are years old, this is like a doctor-ordered shopping spree. Which I don’t have time to go on, so I’ll just keep wearing ugly sneakers or Keens, I guess. (The birkenstocks and earth shoes make it worse.) But still… doctor’s orders! New shoes!!
In non-related medical happenings, I finally after over a year went and had my blood drawn. The lady said, “Are you OK?” because I was obviously sweating buckets and not OK. I said “I’m nervous, but I’m determined to get over it because I want to be a nurse.” This launched her into her praise of the wonderful field of medicine and her son who is a doctor, but the point of this story is that I looked! While the needle was in my arm! For a whole second! I came out of there saying aloud to myself “I can do it!” over and over and scaring other people who happened to be walking by and now in fact wish I could have blood drawn again to see if I can handle watching the needle go in. Is anyone having blood drawn?
