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If my brain threw up, it might look something like this.  Ow. My nuts. They are kicked. I have gotten a new email address, so if you're reading this and don't know what it is, reply, and I'll send it to you. Along with some mocking, because I can't think of anyone who might be reading this that wouldn't have gotten my oh-so-personal form email. So the big thing here (other than my trip to Canada -- more on that later, probably) is that BadBird (my wife) and I have been redecorating. And I am loving the way it's turning out. The only thing wrong is that I currently have too much Furniture. Namely, a Jerker Desk and a Billy Bookcase. The Jerker is an older desk, with a more angular desk surface and two extendable shelf thingies that I always rested my trackball on. It also has an additional long shelf and some smaller shelves for the side. The Billy comes in birch veneer. If any of you is interested in either of those, or knows someone who might be, let me know. They're in good shape, and they'd be cheap. Current mood: awake (sort of). Current music: BadBird watching CSI in the other room. Pyro.net screwed me again. I sent them my information back in April (after they informed me that they hadn't received payment in over a year -- which in turn is after I updated my credit card info with them on a regular basis). They suspended and then cancelled my account after a month and a half. So screw them right back. I'm not using them. Until then, I have no email. I'm working on reinstating my school email account, but if you've sent anything to me in the past 2 weeks, I didn't get it. Sorry. This is also why I've been somewhat incommunicado. Anyway, I'll send out the usual form email with an update when I have a new address. And I'll post something about my life here before too long too. Current mood:  aggravated.Current music: Nothing right now. I did, in fact, flunk my stress test that I had on Monday, according to the cardiologist I saw at the time. He wanted me to go in for an angiogram. I wasn't too sure about this, so I called my dad. Turns out, my uncle and he went to high school with one of the top cardiologists in Chicago (when Daley had his heart trouble, this is the guy Daley went to), so they called him up. Then Dr. H called me in turn and told me he figured that I needed an angiogram too. This was on Wednesday. Yesterday, Wife and my Dad (who came up Wednesday) and I drove out to Downers Grove to see Dr. H, and I went under the knife that same morning. An angiogram is where they cut a hole in your femoral artery and run a wire up into your heart to look around. Luckily, they gave me some drugs and I don't remember much of it. The anesthesiologist told me I wouldn't remember a thing -- apparently this cocktail is supposed to induce amnesia -- but I do remember floating in and out, feeling a tugging in my thigh as Dr. H worked. But that's it -- pretty good considering what they were doing. Turns out I had a false positive during the stress test, and the angiogram revealed my heart to be just fine. No blockage or anything. So I got sent up for a CT scan of my chest (I've had a tightness for a while). That was pretty exciting, because they dump -- 4 cc's a second -- iodine into you to get your body to show up on the scan. This is interesting, because it makes your whole body feel warm. I thought mine was on fire -- not painful, exactly, but really really warm and wet. I had to pee at that point too, so I was afraid I'd accidentally let go. But I hadn't. After the scan, they let me go. I got dressed and then almost fainted. The nurses said they weren't surprised, since I hadn't eaten or drank in almost 14 hours. So they got me a turkey sandwich and some cheese and some juice and I felt better pretty quickly. Then -- take two -- I left. When we got home, I spent the rest of the night on the couch. I currently have a plug and a sponge in the wound on my artery. It feels like I have a marble in my leg. It's not too painful if I'm careful, but still pretty uncomfortable. The good part is that the whole thing is made out of collagen, so it will have completely dissolved in 90 days. I just hope I stop feeling it before then. And now, Dad and I are off to see my regular Dr. She has her med students in today, and she wants them to interview me. That's cool, I guess. We'll see. Current mood:  uncomfortable.Current music: Wife watching TV, Dad talking to her, Dog stomping about. kreestopearq, age 28So Wednesday night, I went to the Emergency Room with chest pains. It was kind of scary, given that my chest felt very tight, it was kinda difficult to breathe, I was sweating, and every so often, my heart would flutter and shake in my chest. Last year, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. This actually comes as no surprise, given my exerciseless lifestyle, and the fact that every single male on my dad's side of the family has high blood pressure, heart disease or both. But it wasn't bad enough that my Dr thought I should have meds, so she told me to just watch my diet. Which I did, but apparently not well enough. At my yearly physical -- on Wednesday, no less -- she gave me some medication, which I dutifully took. Almost immediatly, I got a headache and as the day progressed, my chest tightened up more and more, I had a minor episode at Sam's Club after walking around and shopping, and when I picked up a laundry basket at home and carried it into the living room, I knew something was Not Right. After we called my Dr, Wife took me to the ER, where they got me right in. I was poked and prodded, my BP was really high, and there were like 4 people working on me all at once. But there wasn't much they could do. They ruled out all of the big possibilities right away -- heart attack, stroke, etc. -- but they still couldn't figure out what was going on. So I got to spend the night. Wife got to go home and let people know what was going on, and tell her work that she wouldn't be coming in. When I woke up the next morning, Wife was already there, as was my breakfast. But I wasn't hungry, and then I was told that I'd probably be having a liver ultrasound soon, so I shouldn't eat anyway. My Dr came by, as did a (my, now) cardiologist and a nutritionist. I got a echo cardiogram (isn't that an EKG? I had two EKGs while I was there, but this echo thingie was different. Anyone know the difference?). I had to miss lunch for the liver ultrasound, so by the time dinner came around, I was pretty hungry. I had however, ordered tuna fish for some reason. I hate tuna fish. I didn't eat much of that. Around 8pm, after a final dose of drugs (aspirin, Pepcid, and Vioxx, which I have prescriptions for now) they sent me home. Wife and I went to Olive Mountain, since that's one of the few carryout places I can have now, grabbed dinner, and went home. I got to relax on the couch and then go to bed. All in all, kinda scary. I go in for a stress test on Monday. The most frustrating thing is that the Drs were unable to tell me what happened. They could tell me a lot of what didn't happen, but not what did happen. That always makes me feel stupid -- like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, like they MUST think I'm making it up (my Dr assured me my credibility is good, which helped), but I think I can get over that. Where do I go from here? I get to enjoy the wonderful world of light exercise now. I get to give up a lot of foods I enjoy. To my gaming group: this includes pizza, chinese food, lunchmeat, most of what is readily available for delivery. So I'm gong to have to be creative in my choices for gaming night food; I hope I don't try your patience. To sum up: I'm fine now, and I'm gonna get better. So don't worry. Current mood:  relieved.Current music: Rain- Prism- [Feed Your Head - Volume 3 - Accelerating The Alpha Rhythms]. I had a great time in Houston. Wife and I got back yesterday, about a half hour earlier than we thought we would. I think the storms in Houston gave us a hellacious tailwind. I hate HATE turbulance, so bouncing along for about a half hour was not very fun at all. But Dog and Cat were both happy to see us I think, as was girari, who was pet-sitting.Visiting my Dad was great. I hadn't ever been to Houston before, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I especially enjoyed going sea fishing on Friday. We left early in the morning, and the sun was just coming up when we hit the water. It was just me, my Dad, Wife, and Captain Mike on his boat, the Seatrek. We fished for about 5 hours, but only caught 2 fish right at the very end. But it was a beautifully sunny day, and the fish were each about 25 pounds and 36+ inches long. The only bad part is that our sunscreen didn't work very well. I didn't burn, but I think I got heat exhaustion. I just couldn't keep myself awake, was headachey, and slept for about 3 hours before dinner. Dad did too, so I think he got it a bit as well. And on Saturday, we ate lunch at a Waffle House. That place just speaks to a deep place in my soul. * * * * * girari wanted to know what I'm actually studying. I am currently pursuing a Masters in Theological Studies, concentration in Church History (where I tend to focus on people/movements from Thomas Aquinas to John Wesley). At the moment, I'm only taking 2 classes -- Life and Thought of Martin Luther, and United Methodist History: Wesley and the 19th Century -- both of which I am enjoying very much. My degree program means I have to take less of what I took as a Masters of Divinity student, so I only need one class in each bible area, no classes in worship, pastoral care, church administration, or anything like that. Instead, I have to make sure I take 5 classes in my concentration. But because of when I decided to make the switch, I only had to take 3 classes in my concentration and one New Testament class. All the rest (with a few exceptions) count as electives. Which is fine -- I might have taken some of them anyway if I hadn't been an MDiv student.I tend to like classes that are about the thought and theology of a certain person. I like getting to know the person, and therefore understanding his (usually -- not many women were writing in the time period I study) theology better because I know what's going on in their minds at the time. My thesis, for example, will be on the role of the Devil in the thought and theology of Martin Luther. By understanding his idea of the Devil and the ways the Devil influences the world, I hope to piece together the ways that these ideas influenced his theology and bind them together into some coherent whole. My thesis advisor says that she's never heard of anyone doing such a thing -- lots of people talk about Luther and the Devil, but no one does anything about it. So that might be good for publishing. I hope so -- producing a publishable Master's thesis is one of the things I'm hoping will counter my poor GPA. Oh, and Happy Easter to all. May love and peace wash over all of you on every day, but especially this one. Wife and I are taking girari and Wife's Parents to our favorite restaurant to celebrate -- Kegon!!! Teppanyaki on Easter -- what better way to celebrate is there?
Current mood: awake. Current music: Smartbomb (Plump DJs Mix)- BT- [Rare & Remixed (Disc 2)]. I'm in Houston, visiting my Dad. He moved here in January. So this is the first time Wife and I have gotten to see where he lives. It's pretty nice so far, but we only got here last night. On Friday, we're going deep sea fishing in Galveston. I've never been, so I'm looking forward to it. We travelled from Tucson, where we visited Morocco_Mole. I've known him since college, and he's been in Tucson since 1997. We didn't do much, just relaxed, drank scotch and beer, and smoked cigars. We also playtested (sort of) a published D&D module someone he vaguely knows wrote. It was pretty lame. But we had fun anyway. I also tried mead for the first time. I enjoyed that quite a bit. In school news, I had a meeting with my advisors a couple of weeks ago, on my birthday. That meeting sucked. Basically, they suggested that if I want to continue my journey, I should go get another MA before I start applying for PhDs, because I only have a 3.05 GPA. When I asked my advisor why I should bother staying in school now, he replied that he couldn't think of a good reason. Sigh. But as I distanced myself from the meeting, I realized that he didn't tell me anything new. I know my GPA isn't the greatest -- it certainly doesn't reflect my level of dedication or ability. And I'm reinterested in class and starting to make my own contributions (my professors keep telling me that I'm picking up on things no one has ever noticed before or written about). So if I can keep this up, I will probably be able to compensate for my subpar grades if I can't manage to bring the GPA up with the 2 classes I have left (I've gotten As on everything I've turned in so far). Next year, I finish my classes, write my thesis, work with the NU Career Services office and I should be in more school in 2005. Or 2006. If you're interested, I can post what sort of observations I've been making, and what my thesis is going to be about. Or what languages I'm planning on learning before PhD work... Ok, let's try this again. The Exorcist in 30 Seconds (and Reinacted by Bunnies) Current mood:  amused.Current music: Dreaming Your Dreams- Hybrid- [Wider Angle [Special Edition] (Disc 1)]. OK, two funny websites I discovered. Oddly enough, they both have to do with pirates. Bob the Ball v. the Nazi Pirates Keyboard for Pirates That's all for now. Current mood: amused.
attackmonkey!!!!I have returneded! I managed to get over my chagrin at my heinous lack of posting and beat attackmonkey back into the fray!It's been a while. Lots of stuff in life that happened these past 5 or so months. In no particular order: -- My advisor expressed his displeasure at my lack of attendance in his class, and made dire predictions that my GPA would keep me out of a doctoral program somewhere -- My (probable) Thesis Advisor did a bunch of research on my behalf and has been behind me 100% -- I missed Christmas at my grandparents for the second time ever -- Instead, Christmas was at my home this year. My dad got me a bottle of absinthe and a copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls. I also baked a fruitcake and made cookies -- I started playing Diablo II again (USEast, if you feel like playing sometime). I really should just have started smack again; that was easier to quit -- Wife brought home information on over 80 possible schools with programs in my field for me to sift through and request information from. I did, and whittled the list down to about 30 -- Wife's grandpa turned 90, requiring a visit to Topeka to celebrate -- I visited my mother and saw her for the first time since my wedding -- went to B-Fest -- Thought about running two different RPGs (Dragon-Blooded Exalted & a supers game (probably Aberrant), both of which have been shelved due to players/time issues) and started playing in an Iron Kingdoms D&D game -- New semester as of 2-2. I'm taking Life and Theology of Martin Luther, and United Methodist History: Beginning to 19th Century -- Did some good work in my therapy -- Visited my friend in Tucson. Wife and I will be visiting him again in April -- Celebrated New Years at the Firehouse Grill, playing pool and drinking beer. And went home promptly at midnight. How old I have become All in all, nothing too earth shattering. Just the sort of milestones that mark everyday life. I'll get over the "who wants to hear about my everyday life" anxiety and post more often. Current mood:  content.
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