RankFamily Archives: October 2004
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Well, at the risk of overdoing it, I'll add another entry to the blog. It's been pretty crazy with the kids' activities, the band, Linda's career, football season, and the usual background noise.
First, I'll cover what I'm most excited about: the musical shenanigans. Our little quartet played a coffee house filled with friends we put the squeeze on to show up, and happily, I think they were pleasantly surprised. One of Linda's coworkers confessed to her that when Linda asked her to come see "my husband's band", she mentally equated that with "my kid's Christmas pageant". But she was impressed enough to tell us afterward that her expectations were far exceeded and that she'd really enjoyed the show. In fact, everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy it. It was two hours, and at the end I was a wet rag. But we left them wanting more, which is good. We were about 80% in my estimation: not too bad for a first gig. The usual mental errors, but not a lot of nerves. Our next matter of business is to make a demo and play some more established venues.
I'm watching football with a great group of guys on the weekends. We watch the UT game on Saturday, and the Cowboys on Sunday. There is usually food (always good) that I can eat, and they all take care of me without pandering. It's nice, and I look forward to it. This past weekend, I went to a house with a large dog who took a very physical liking to me; jumping, slobbering, the whole nine yards. I loved the interaction (I'm never around dogs anymore) but I had to guard my feeding tube pretty well. And, he (his name was Cosmo) had me pinned against the wall, which I didn't mind, but with the hands busy guarding the tube, I could've fallen. They eventually put him away, which made me both happy and sad.
Another interest I've developed is an online activity called a MUD, which stands for "multi-user dungeon". There are many MUDs available on the internet, and this one, like most, is a text-based fantasy game in which you create a character and complete quests and kill monsters to advance your character's abilities. There is a strong social aspect to the MUD, too. Some people actually view it as more of a chat room than a game. I have "met" many people while playing, and have come to know a few of them and their real life situations to some extent. And vice versa. We consider each other friends even though we've never met irl ("in real life"). The majority of my new friends live in Los Angeles, but there is one in Arkansas, one in Iowa, and even one in Singapore. It is immensely entertaining for me, but when people learn a little bit about it, they usually look at me sideways. It is a very complicated game, and there are no graphics. It's a pretty geeky pastime, but there's no accounting for taste, I guess. I am as addicted to it as I ever was to video games (and that's saying a lot).
As for how I'm doing, my legs are quite a bit weaker. I had a fall in a parking lot last month. Not fun. My neck is so weak now that I couldn't keep my head from bouncing off the pavement. It was not nearly as bad as it could have been, but they don't have to be very bad to be serious now. If I break a leg or ankle now, I may not walk again until I'm cured, because by the time I get my cast off the muscles will have atrophied far enough that they're unusable. So I've given up carrying my equipment, which was what caused the fall. My speech keeps falling away gradually; I'm using my speech machine a lot more now. My hand strength is fading too, I'd be surprised if I can still play piano by next summer. But my swallowing doesn't seem to be getting worse. Of course, I'm being very careful with what I eat. But even with thin liquids and "challenging" foods, I'm not noticing much a difference. My appetite seems to be growing, too. I can easily put away 9 cans of Jevity each day, and a small meal, and a snack to boot. Perhaps I'll gain some weight. That'd be a good thing. A Good Thing.
I would make promises to post here more frequently, but you wouldn't believe me anyway. I'll have to earn back your trust, so keep checking back and bugging me if you're not seeing the info flow.
Posted by joe @ 09:40 PM CST