johnguinness's Diaryland Diary
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I took the \"Fall\" season too literally
Thanks for stopping by. I guess I did leave out something in the other post that might end up being important. I'm out of practice writing, so I'll start with now and maybe we'll end up there. It's not like I've ever known how my entries would end (and yes, I understand that some have felt like they would go on forever.
I just got back from the Cans Film Festival at the theater. Every December they have one Saturday where people donate cans of food to the Salvation Army & get to see a free movie in return. When I got the e-mail, I figured it would be a chance for me to pass along some of the stuff I've been given but can't deal with. Holiday stuff like pumpkin, cranberries, yams, plus vegetables and other things better left to people who cook.
I was excited to donate the food, but still resemble an undercover cop pretending to be a hobo, so I wasn't anxious to be around crowds. I pulled up with boxes and bags, expecting a free movie today and a pass for a future two week old movie, but my 51 bonus cans earned me five extra passes. I felt bad about that. I had mostly seen Unstoppable online, and only planned to go today because I wouldn't have to sit near anyone, and wanted a couple of hours in a comfortable seat in exchange for the gas I used. It was loud and weak, but free.
I used one of my passes from cereal boxes last week to watch Harry Potter, even though I'd seen the whole thing online, and the beginning 36 minutes twice. At least I got to see some things I couldn't spot while viewing on a computer monitor.
Yesterday I used the other cereal pass to watch Warrior's Way. It was like Kill Bill meets Crouching Tiger meets a spaghetti western with House Of Flying Daggers imagery. I don't know if it's good or not, but it was visually stunning, the body count was impressive, and the baby was the cutest movie one since Willow, and this one had more scenes. It was definitely escapism, because it had no relation to anything in my life.
By the way, if you don't watch Fringe, you missed out on this gem the other night:
"It's all because of that temptress! She tricked my son with her carnal manipulations and he fell right into her vagenda!" -Walter Bishop
Anyway, I fell down one morning in early October. I was trying to start my pre-dawn walks again. I was done, and on my way down the steep incline to my apartment. I noticed a light on upstairs in the dentist office - not normal for 5:00. I looked up at that window, and then over to the next one, as I continued down the terrain of bumps, pits, and fresh gravel that has cars spinning all day long.
I stepped with my right foot; it slid down the gravel, and I did a full body slam on my back, like a person during an exorcism who got raised above the bed and released. But I was parallel to the building, and it is steep there, so once I landed, gravity had me roll over once down the hill and slam to rest in a pit of dusty, gravelly goodness. I managed to get upright before a car happened around the corner at high speed. I can't imagine what they'd have thought seeing a body on the ground near the redneck bar.
I'll fast forward, because you're not getting paid for this, but on twitter that morning, I asked if it wouldn't be funny if the double impact reversed my brain issues. I only thought of it because I knew a priest once who was going blind from diabetes to the point where he studied braille, and he was in a car crash, and he ended up a bit lame in the left arm but his vision was saved.
Oh, also because the slams reminded me of the chiropractic adjustments Dr. McShady used to give me. Other doctors would push in the back from behind. He put his hand under my back and slammed me so things would go that direction. But he never really addressed a spot up near my neck that was a problem after the crash.
Anyhoo...it's tough to pick the timing, because about the time I'd finished recovering, the air mattress started to fail and sleep vanished from my life. But at some point during the past few months, possibly unrelated to the fall, some of my symptoms started getting better, four years after they appeared.
I was never fully awake most of November, so I don't know about the mental processing side of it. But I could wake up in the morning, and remember what was in the refrigerator and freezer that I could maybe have for breakfast. I could remember which of the shows I like from the previous evening would have new episodes for me. It wasn't perfect, but I could work my way through something like a bit actor's name I had known ages ago.
Some things still needed fresh connections, like the name of an old TV show, or Zac Efron's last name when his crappy sailing movie came up on a link for Hereafter. But I'd been off MAF/Remember! for months, and had nothing to take for depression, but things worked a bit better.
My sister gave me twenty bucks the other day, and I wanted to spend it on comfort food, because the menu had been pretty bleak for a while. But Vitacost had free shipping for one day only, so I used eighteen dollars to order Remember! & St.John's Wort. I could still use some Sam-e and FRS Plus, but I'm on the other two things as of yesterday, and we'll see how it goes. I might try exercising my memory, trying to learn the big speech from Henry V or something, or playing online games. But November was Hell, and I'm hoping for a good December.
Take care. If you see my name lit up on your buddy list again after this, just assume I won the lottery, so you don't need to click:-)
P.S. There are only thirteen episodes so far, but Terriers is the best series I've seen this year.
Also, please change your FB profile pic to a cartoon from your childhood for the weekend to show support against bullying.
12:54 p.m. - Saturday, Dec. 04, 2010
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