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[Dec. 28th, 2008|10:36 pm] |
No staying up all night again for me... even though I was tired last night, I couldn't sleep until after 4am. So very annoying. And of course I'm exhausted today as a result, despite grabbing a small nap this afternoon.
Which, of course, does not help my extreme weirdness, by which I mean that the things that I think will make me feel better are the things I want the least.
To illustrate:
-I want to be social, but end up feeling frustrated with others.
-I want to go out and do things, but nothing appeals to me.
-I want to write/draw/be creative, but can't concentrate on anything.
So... I am a confused kitten! |
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[Jun. 9th, 2008|09:41 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | pissed off | ] |
Right now, I am suspended on LJ. I don't know what I did, and hopefully all will be fixed soon, but for those of you who have journals here and there (and who know people I know), coudl you please let people know?
If you wanna get in touch with me, my e-mail is nekogirl at gmail.com. There isn't much right now for me to do online but check it, so I'm bound to be around. |
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[Nov. 27th, 2007|02:18 pm] |
I'm aching right now, so this seems particularly appropriate....
Why do people with fibromyalgia have pain and how is it unique from other pain disorders? (Answered by I. Jon Russell, MD, PhD)
We currently believe that people with fibromyalgia have a low pain threshold and experience as pain many normal sensory signals from the nerves—signals that a normal person would not perceive as pain. “Pain threshold” is defined differently from “pain tolerance.” People with fibromyalgia have a high tolerance for pain because they experience so much pain and have adapted to it somewhat. A pain threshold is something like the water threshold of a dam; if there is rain and the reservoir begins to fill, more water will go over the top if the dam is low than if the dam is high. Similarly, in fibromyalgia, a touch, a squeeze, or just sitting on a chair can feel painful though those things would not be painful for a healthy normal person with a higher pain threshold. Another way to illustrate that is to imagine a microphone at a radio station and two radio receivers in different houses. At the station, an Irish lullaby is being sung and in one house it sounds lovely. In the other house, the volume setting is turned way too high. The screaming sound from that second radio is terrible to hear. The radio signal for both radios is the same; the only difference between the normal radio and the screaming one is the volume setting. The “volume settings” for pain perception depend on the level of chemicals in the spinal cord and in parts of the brain. The chemicals are not at a normal level, so they seem to amplify or fail to control the nerve signals coming from the body, changing them from normal sensations to pain.
The pain of fibromyalgia is different from the pain of an injury, such as a broken bone. With the broken bone, the perceived pain comes from damaged tissue so the message is a true one. In fibromyalgia the tissue is not damaged, but the perceived pain is as bad as the broken bone pain—or even worse. The difference is that the message is not true. When the fibromyalgia patient feels a stabbing or aching pain like a knife stabbing, a look at the tissue will reveal that the message is false. That doesn’t make the pain feel any better, but the lesson is important to understand. The abnormal chemical levels in the spinal cord area are changing, amplifying, or failing to control the message.
The person who has the broken bone can see what the problem is, while the person with fibromyalgia cannot. The person with the broken bone knows that the pain will get better with time, but the person with fibromyalgia has the same pain day and night for years. Add to the mix the poor sleep experienced by the person with fibromyalgia. One can better handle discomfort during the day if one can sleep at night. When there is hope of improvement and strong support from relatives and friends, as the person with the broken bone will receive, it is easier to take the pain and limitation. On the other hand, family and friends sometimes become suspicious or even reject the person with fibromyalgia. Self doubt can eventually come as well.
And if you're wondering what fibro feels like, the website I was reading suggests trying this: clip a clothespin to your finger and see how long you can keep it on.
People with fibro live with pain all the time, and can't take it off.
I don't know how accurate that is, because I've played randomly with clothespins and can't see that they're that painful attached to your fingers, but... what do I know? |
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[Nov. 23rd, 2007|07:56 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | busy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Fiona Apple - Love Ridden | ] |
Read:
Baja California - Dan Jenkins
The Art of Deception - Ridley Pearson
Cool Cat - Frank Bonham
Willow - Joan D. Vinge
An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
Re-read:
Maybe (Maybe Not) - Robert Fulghum
That Scatterbrain Booky - Bernice Thurman Hunter
With Love, Booky - Bernice Thurman Hunter
24 read and 12 re-read for a total of 36! |
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[Nov. 19th, 2007|10:37 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
Read:
Tootsie Tanner, Why Don't You Talk? - Patricia Reilly Giff
Monday Mourning - Kathy Reichs
Don't Move! - Eric Nicol
Cross Bones - Kathy Reichs
Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
Looking For Alaska - John Green
November so far is breaking records, as I'm up to 19 read and 9 re-read for a total of 28. Whee! |
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| the pile of books on my desk is getting rather large. |
[Nov. 12th, 2007|08:57 pm] |
Read:
Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut
K-PAX - Gary Brewer
The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club - Susan McBride
Bluebeard - Kurt Vonnegut
Slave To Fashion - Rebecca Campbell
November so far: Read 9, re-read 9, total 18. (Is anyone else unnerved that I've managed to read 18 books in 12 days? Cuz I am, a little....) |
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[Nov. 9th, 2007|01:23 pm] |
Read:
The Blue Jean Collection (short stories)
The Series - Paul Petersen
Size 12 Is Not Fat - Meg Cabot
Re-read:
Mary Poppins - P.L. Travers
Mine For Keeps - Jean Little
The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp - Richard Peck
The Peculiar Miss Pickett - Nancy R. Julian
Games People Play - Eric Berne, M.D.
My Name is Sus5an Smith. The 5 is Silent. - Louise Plummer
Castle Roogna - Piers Anthony
November so far: Read 3, re-read 9 for a total of 12.
YTD: 250 |
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| Why English Doesn't Make Any Sense |
[Nov. 4th, 2007|05:41 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Sadie - Helter Skelter | ] |
We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,but the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
Just one is a goose, but two are called geese, yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a mouse or a nest full of mice, yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men, why shouldn*t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet, and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
And one may be that, and three would be those, yet hat in the plural would never be hose, and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren, but though we say mother, we never say methren. The masculine pronouns are he, his and him - just imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim! .
LET'S FACE IT - ENGLISH IS A CRAZY LANGUAGE.
There's no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; no apple or pine in pineapple. And English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don*t ham?
Doesn*t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? And if you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
And if a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell. �We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway. And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, - in which you fill in a form by filling it out, - and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop? |
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| the extremely long-overdue book list |
[Oct. 27th, 2007|11:19 am] |
Read:
How I Paid For College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater - Marc Acito
Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
Miss Wyoming - Douglas Coupland
Girlfriend in a Coma - Douglas Coupland
Cat on a Blue Monday - Carole Nelson Douglas
Cat in a Golden Garland - Carole Nelson Douglas
Metro Girl - Janet Evanovich
Until I Find You - John Irving
A Widow For One Year - John Irving
Re-read:
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis
The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis
What the Dogs Have Taught Me - Merrill Markoe
At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks
Don't Call Me Sugarbaby! - Dorothy Joan Harris
Even If It Kills Me - Dorothy Joan Harris
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
A Wind in the Door - Madeleine L'Engle
Read 9, re-read 11 for a total of 23 in October.
YTD: 235 |
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[Oct. 17th, 2007|09:26 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | productive | ] |
The girl, she is tired. And has developed some new and interesting bruises since last she posted!
Since Monday, we've moved almost everything that we're moving ourselves, which means Dad and I have carried a lot of things up the stairs, and not all of them easy/fun. For instance, I got whapped in the face at least twice today with a large, heavy dresser. Ouch!
But we are almost done, and this makes me happy. Also making me happy is the fact that my internet (still on dial-up for now) is about twice as fast here as it was in Old House, purely because the phone lines aren't fifty years old and on the edge of death. Yay!
Kitten has also settled in nicely, and has been behaving herself wonderfully well. I am pleased.
Mrr, it's almost 9:30? Eep! Where does time go? Well, back to reading of the flist before it's time for this girl to get some well-deserved sleep...
P.S.
Happy Birthday, Emi!
I know I already wished it to you a couple of times today, but another never hurt anyone! *hugs much* Ai lav i! |
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[Oct. 15th, 2007|05:53 pm] |
So, um, ACTUALLY moving. This is my last night in Old House. Seems weird.... kitchen table's gone, as is the dining room set. Will be packing up most of the den tonight as well, and taking that stuff over tomorrow as well as the beds and the computer.
It's really odd to me that in a couple of weeks, I won't be allowed to come into this house that I've spent the vast majority of my life in. Then again, everything seems weird to me lately, if I spend more than a couple of seconds thinking about it. Am starting to realize that "reality" only makes sense when you accept it without questioning.
Anyway, if you want to contact me after tonight, use New Number (listed under "mobile phone," which it isn't really, for those of you reading from Facebook) - I'll have the computer hooked up by tomorrow evening as well, so it's not like I'll be gone for any amount of time.
*hugs to all* |
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| long-overdue book list |
[Oct. 5th, 2007|01:43 pm] |
September
Read:
Paint It Black - Janet Fitch
Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys - Eric Garcia
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven - Fannie Flagg
A Redbird Christmas - Fannie Flagg
Ten Little New Yorkers - Kinky Friedman
The Prisoner of Vandam Street - Kinky Friedman
Spanking Watson - Kinky Friedman
TOTAL for September: 34 read + 5 re-read = 39
October
Read:
My Boring-Ass Life- Kevin Smith
Piece By Piece - Tori Amos and Ann Powers
Rite Of Passage - Richard D'Agostino
October so far: 3 read
YTD: 215 |
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| alphabet meme (stolen from Daphyn) |
[Sep. 30th, 2007|08:21 pm] |
( I was bored. ) |
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[Sep. 30th, 2007|03:05 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | exhausted | ] |
I've slept a LOT of hours and I am still completely incoherent, even with the application of caffeine.
Also, I cannot take decent pictures. They are practically all fuzzy... though the ones of the rainbow turned out nicely.
Not that anyone's really going to know what I'm on about anyway, with the exception of ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lauriegilbert... |
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[Sep. 26th, 2007|03:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | frustrated | ] |
This is going to sound weird, but.... I haven't happened to have loaned Chasing Amy to any of you in the past year or so, have I? The reason I ask is because I was going to watch it today, but I opened the case and there's no disc. I'm the sort of person who puts things back where they belong as soon as I'm done with them (for exactly this reason), but I thought perhaps it had gotten into another case.... so I searched all my DVDs. It's not there.
So, um, I'm kinda hoping maybe one of you has it. *cute face*
Otherwise I may have to throw a fit... especially seeing as I'm going to see Kevin Smith tomorrow and I wanted him to sign it. Am still gonna take the case, but.... grrrrrrr. |
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[Sep. 24th, 2007|03:23 pm] |
Read:
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - Cory Doctorow (you can read it for free - download it here)
Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn - Donald Spoto
Breakwater - Carla Neggers
September: 5 re-read + 27 read = 32
YTD: 205
Incidentally, there are a few books you can download/read for free, thanks to a project called Creative Commons. If you want to sign up (and I don't think you have to), they accept OpenID, so you can sign in with your LJ ID!
If you're interested, the Creative Commons book section can be found here. Happy reading, all! |
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| x-posted from devilish__angel's journal |
[Sep. 24th, 2007|01:44 pm] |
If I were to host a painting party, who might be interested in attending?
The idea has been proposed to me, and I'm oddly good at organizing events like this. So, I'm toying with the idea, and depending on the interest I get...
(This would be a people-and/or-canvas painting party, with drinkies and other fun things. Small cover charge to cover costs, say $5 or $10 to come in and play, and have refreshments, etc.)
Note: lost_in_my_room suggested this idea to me, and I think it would be fun/interesting/creative. And knowing you guys, at least a couple of you should be interested! |
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