yay for drugs

Who is this filker? (hint: she has visited my place, was at Consonance)


Had a mellow weekend. Did lots of reading: finished Factoring Humanity by Robert Sawyer, read Clan Of The Cave Bear by Jean Auel, started Timeline by Michael Crichton and Valley of the Horses by Jean Auel. Saw Return of the King again (my 5th time) with Jeff, Ruth, Sara and Annie. Brunch with Ray and Parki and Jeff. Took a lot of walks; I passed my goal for the Idita Walk challenge last week, and now I'm seeing how far beyond the 1049 minute mark I can get in during the next couple of weeks.

It looks like I'm going to have a creative outlet after all (yay!), thanks to my friend Michelle Sagara West, who has asked if I would be willing to cowrite another short story with her. I said yes, of course. She offered to do all the typing during our brainstorming/planning sessions; by the time we actually start writing, I should have recovered enough from my elbow sprain to at least be okay with longer ViaVoice sessions.



Who is this filker?


The anti-inflammatories I started taking last week already seem to be having an effect; the pain has subsided enough that I can happily say things are starting to improve again. Yay for drugs! :-) Thanks for the advice and encouragement posted in Blatherchat and Livejournal; it is much appreciated.

Thanks also to Scott and Amanda and Zoe Snyder, Dave Clement and Tom Jeffers, Paul Kwinn and Beckett, and Alisa and Hailey Grace Garcia for the surprise phone call from Consonance in California last night! And for singing the Hockey Monkey Song at me. I missed you guys, too.

And congrats to Terence Chua, who is going to be the guest of honor at Consonance next year!

March 2004 comments: Read | Post | Livejournal

keeping sane

Went for my follow-up appointment at the fracture clinic this morning. It's been four weeks since my fall on the ice, and I'm still in constant pain. After some poking and prodding and another set of X-rays, the doctor concluded that the pain is from a combination of a sprained elbow and a flare-up in my tendinitis.

Unfortunately this means I can't start treating my tendinitis (physiotherapy, arm strengthening exercises) until my sprain heals, which the doctor estimates will be about four weeks.

It's been very difficult trying to work on my fiction writing recently. It's one thing to try doing any kind of creative writing using voice-activated software; it's another trying to do so while also in constant pain. The fracture clinic guy told me to start taking anti-inflammatories four times a day, so hopefully that will help. Another worry: because I've been relying so much on my left arm, there's been a bit of tendinitis flare-up there as well.

Going a bit nuts, not having an easy creative outlet. Makes me appreciate how much I relied on fiction writing, songwriting, playing my harp and flute, photography, and cartooning to keep me sane that way. :-)

I've been doing a lot more reading; I can still read books by propping them up on a pillow in my lap. Recently finished Angelica by Sharon Shinn, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (thanks, Jodi!) and am about halfway through Factoring Humanity by Robert Sawyer (thanks, Rand!). Parki and his sister Kate convinced me to try watching Cracker (first season on loan to us from Vartan & Hrach), a British TV series, and I'm hooked.

Meanwhile, I'm going to take one day at a time.

March 2004 comments: Read | Post | Livejournal

randvisit

Rand and me (last year). Photo by Allison.


Woohoo, Lord of the Rings won in all 11 Oscar-nominated categories! A perfect capper for an equally wonderful weekend. My friend Rand came to visit from Buffalo, arrived on Friday and stayed through the weekend. I used to only see Rand a couple of times a year at filk conventions, with very little contact between. Now I consider him a dear friend. Not sure about the rest of you, but it always takes me a long time to build up the trust level necessary for what I consider a close friendship. For me, I need to know that other person is going to stick around for the longterm, even if things sometimes get rough. Rand has seen me at my worst and not run screaming, so I figure he's around for good. :-)

One of the things I enjoyed most about this past weekend was the overlap between people I deeply care about from different areas of my life. Going out for a walk with Parki and Jeff and Rand on Saturday afternoon (visit to Silver Snail comics shop, checking out Jeff's new office space), for example. Parki and Jodi meeting for the first time. Dim sum with Jeff and Rand. Rand and my sister going out for coffee on Sunday morning; Ruth put Rand in an illustration for one of her new books, by the way: a busker playing guitar and singing!

Allison and Jodi came over for dinner on Saturday. Much fun and great conversation lasting late into the evening. With Rand, we also called Beckett and Paul to see how they were doing; Beckett had sprained her knee last week.

Anyway, 'twas a good weekend with good friends. Been feeling somewhat down lately because of recent armstuff/pain, so the timing was much appreciated. :-)

And one last note: many thanks to Amanda Snyder for the most entertaining phone message I've had in a very long time!

March 2004 comments: Read | Post | Livejournal

For Deb, who told me I came from Mars

Yesterday, my niece Annie turned seven years old. She is very keen on the Lord of the Rings movies, so I created the card above for her in honor of the occasion, with the aid of Photoshop and Google Image Search. It was the first time I messed with Photoshop since my fall on the ice, but my arm seemed to be OK; I've set my Wacom artpad pen to require very little pressure. Annie's reaction definitely made it worth the effort. :-)

I'm still going to hold off resuming cartooning/drawing until my arm recovers a bit more; it's looking as if my ice skating accident has aggravated my tendinitis somewhat. I'm really hoping this doesn't turn into a major setback, so am trying to be extra careful. Starting physiotherapy again next week, just to be safe. I have my follow-up appointment with the fracture clinic on Monday.

When I was at my sister's place last night, she showed me the proofs for her new book, No Monsters Here (Author: Sharon Jennings, illustrator: Ruth Ohi, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, June/2004). Not only does it look fantastic, but she dedicated it to me: "For Deb, who told me I came from Mars --Ruth"

Explanation: When we were children, I told my little sister that she hadn't been born in hospital, that Mom and Dad found her in the backyard in a spaceship.

I almost started bawling when I saw that dedication, I was so touched. I am deeply grateful that Ruth and I are so close despite all the horrible things I did to her when we were younger (hanging her teddy bears, purposely leaving out books with scary covers after she asked me not to, telling her that department store mannequins were actually human beings frozen by aliens with laserguns, etc.). Thankfully, it looks as if Sara is a far better older sister than I ever was.

Speaking of my cool sister, be sure to check out her revamped Web site. I haven't been able to properly maintain it because of my tendinitis, so she came over recently. I sat beside her and explained how to scan and upload pictures, update the HTML, while she did all the typing and manual work. We make a good team. :-)

Have a great weekend, everyone.

--

Answer to yesterday's poll: Alan Thiesen.

February 2004 comments: Read | Post | LJ

passion in particular

Name this filker. :-)


Today's Blathering is about passion.

I've already written about desires, but I'd like to elaborate about passion in particular. Hm... "Passion In Particular" would make an interesting album or group name, don't you think? I've always been drawn to people with passions, more so over the years.

When I use the word "passion", I'm not necessarily referring to romance (which ViaVoice just interpreted as "road maps") or sexual desire. I'm talking more about people who pursue their interests wholeheartedly and purposefully. I like people who aren't embarrassed about being excited.

Conversely, I'm less interested in those who merely coast, who passively wait for interesting or good things to happen to them rather than try to make them happen, for fear of failure or just plain laziness.

I love talking to people with passions. Even if I may not have personal experience (or even interest) in their particular passion, I can't help but be drawn into their enthusiasm. I usually learn something I didn't know before. There are limits, of course; if your passion is sacrificing young virgins in your basement every full moon, I'm probably not going to invite you over for tea and Ding-Dongs.

For me, passion is also about embracing life with both arms. I would rather jump into the icy lake screaming than stick in a big toe to test the temperature first. Not always the wisest choice, of course, but sometimes we all need to be reminded that it's good to be alive. :-)

--

Answers to the most recent filker picture poll: Judith Hayman, Mike Whitaker, Mary Bertke, Mary Bertke. I was highly amused at the number of "Rand Bellavia" guesses. :-) Good try.

Are you a filker willing to submit your childhood photo to a future poll? Please feel free to send it! (spam-filtered address; the first time you use it, you may need to manually enter a code in a follow-up e-mail)

February 2004 comments: Read | Post | LJ