Bland

For the next few days, I am supposed to eat a very bland diet, consisting of rice, toast, applesauce, and bananas. Why, you ask? My doc thinks my gallbladder "contracted" because bile can't get out (see story below). She wrote me a bunch of prescriptions for some pretty weird tests. First, have gallbladder ultrasounded. If that test is negative, drink radioactive stuff, force gallbladder to contract-which means I throw up-and see how much bile comes out. If the radioactivity test shows that my gallbladder isn't up to snuff, she wants to take it out. I don't like that drastic idea. I don't like the idea of drinking radioactive stuff and throwing up, either. I like the idea of calling my naturopathic friends and seeing if they have a solution for dissolving gallstones. If you do, please share! You may be responsible for saving my gallbladder!

Weird note: The doc told me that this mostly happens to fair, overweight women in their 40's. I'm not overweight (any more), though I am fair. Am I 40? According to my birth certificate, I'm not. But I keep getting "old-people" diseases. First arthritis...then this... I ran this idea past my Mom, who laughed and said "But you're too beautiful to be old!" She forgets two things:
1) Age does not necessarily mean beauty
2) I look the same as I did when I was 10, except I've got nicer glasses
So maybe I'm one of those people who just ages faster than they're supposed to! Or...not.


Here's my story of gallbladder contraction...
[Gross Alert--Do Not Read If Easily Repulsed. Also, if the story was terrible, please tell me. I hate deluding myself.]

On Monday I came home from fencing class and within 5 minutes was hurling my guts into the toilet. Before class I ate apple sauce with golden raisins and cinnamon in it and promptly got a stomach ache. During class I was getting woozy. My students were probably wondering why I was teaching while sitting on the floor. Ah, well. The stomach ache was very similar to the one I had in Virginia while visiting a dear friend, though I never threw up then. I got over that one with the help of fiber. Dad tried to feed me medicine (I forget what) for this one, but it wouldn't stay down long enough to do anything.

There's one good thing about this episode in my life, though...a funny story! I hope...

The pain in my abdomen would get closer and closer to "impossible to bear"...then fade...over and over again. "Is this what childbirth is like?" I asked Mom while gasping for breath after a surge of pain. She chuckled and said, "probably." If so, I'm glad for 3 things when it comes to labor:
1) Contractions don't last the whole time, they come and go
2) According to my genetic history, labor won't be as long as I was in pain for gallbladder contractions
3) Mothers hopefully get a baby at the end of labor. When my pain subsided, I got threatened with losing an organ.

My doctor, when telling me about my symptoms (ironic, isn't it? SHE told ME about MY symptoms!), said that the pain is often like labor. Heh.

Strangeness

Today I feel like a "normal" student. I stayed on campus after classes were over because I plan to hang out with friends tonight. First weird experience was eating dinner...all by myself...surrounded by strangers who were also eating. I read my textbook on English grammar to keep myself from feeling suicidal. Then I went to the computer lab (where I am now) to download & print various things. I've gotten decently good at managing "fun" time on the internet, so after I was done scrolling through blogs, Flickr, and YouTube, I -gasp!- did some studying. Man, it would be so much easier to study if I lived on campus. I'm sure there are distractions here, but I feel so ridiculously lonely and faceless that I'm studying child psychology just because it gives some sort of purpose to the evening. Which brings me to another realization. Fencing takes up A LOT of my time, and a lot of my identity is in fencing. Which isn't bad, but it's just interesting to realize that, besides church, fencing takes up an awful lot of time.

Miike (Bubs) just called. Bye.

Clowns Won't Eat Me

Guess what! I'm awake! And I've got a knot in my left upper trapezius...

Homework #4 in my Psych class is due tomorrow. I'm supposed to find 5 sentences that I come across in "normal" reading that I don't understand. I can't find that many. I can't find one. I can find ambiguous sentences, grammatically incorrect sentences, and sentences that don't speak truth...but none that I can't understand. *sigh* Sometimes being smart earns bad grades... :-P

In other news, tonight will be the second consecutive night that I'll be reading the Bible before I fall asleep. It's pitiful, I know, but that's why God took pity on me. Last night I read several chapters from Isaiah (one of these years I'll finish that book), and this verse was really cool: Isaiah 45:19. It's been a huge part of my theological thought life in the past 24 hours...this verse is a perfect candidate for a scripture memory song.

Happy birthday to Mrs. Behrens...what a cool day to be born!

The Power of Media

On Monday nights I usually listen to the last 30 minutes of This American Life. Sometimes it's worthwhile. Sometimes it isn't. Last Monday's section was GREAT. It featured Malcolm Gladwell, who was talking at a comedy club about his experiences working for the Washington Post. The MP3 (free and legal) is here, though you've gotta fast-forward to the last part (or you could listen to the whole thing...). Also, ignore the one bad word...

This is going to be a pain for you (if you choose to do it), but I wanted to record the link in case I ever feel like looking up this guy for some obscure reason. Let me know if you heard it, and what you thought about it!

Late? Nahhh...

This was really good. I liked the verse from Proverbs that was quoted. A lot. Also, the author quoted Philippians, which reminded me of this recent sermon, which was also really good.

I complain most (I think) in competitive environments. Sometimes it's a way to apologize to someone for me losing or not having enough skill to be a challenge to them, which is stupid and I'll stop it when I notice it (God, could I get some help in this area? K thanks).

Where and when do you complain? Well, STOP IT! (with God's help, of course) :-P

I Should Write A Song About This

I'm not tired at all! And I'm craving chocolate, which is a terrible combination. But, in other news, the Forrest Gump Suite by Alan Silvestri is really good! 80's movies had good soundtracks, despite the hair and the general foul-mouth-ed-ness. Also, Sarah Chang will be playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons in my city soon...

Speaking of music (I do a lot of that, don't I?), check out this song. It's got an interesting history.
You can download the mp3 for free!

Men = Kleenex?

(This was written in response to a paper I read for class, "Penguins Don't Care, but Women Do: A Social Identity Analysis" by Fatemeh Khosroshahl. I edited it slightly so you, dear readers, might understand it a bit more. Please, let me know what you think! Answer my questions!)

According to this article, men view the word "he" as something like a brand name that covers generic humans and men specifically in the same way that many people use the word "Kleenex" to refer to the brand and generic facial tissues. This analogy was good, but I was struck by the humorous images in my head. How does one picture generic humans, anyway? (UGH! Never mind...)

Perhaps we overuse pronouns, and just need to get more creative with English. Every phrase I can think of that needs a generic pronoun can be rephrased to not include pronouns and be more precise.
Examples:

1. "Somebody left his/her bike in the yard" --> "Somebody left a bike in the yard."
   
2. "Man, being a mammal, excretes milk for his young" --> "Humans, being mammals, excrete milk for their young."
   
3. "The average reader of this blog can afford his own car" --> "Average readers of this blog can afford their own cars" (Hopefully there's more than one reader, right? Even if you can't afford a car?).
   

Am I wrong? Can anyone think of phrases where using a singular generic pronoun is unavoidable?

Also, what about titles like "dude"? Historically, it referred to males, but in an appropriate context I use it to address both genders quite frequently and will respond to someone calling me a dude. Some of my friends have a problem with this, and ironically most who have voiced this opinion are male. I'd be curious to know how many people (and their age and gender) associate "dude" with the male gender.

Dust To Dust

Today Fluffy was buried. Her grave is under my bedroom window, in memoriam of all the times when she'd sit on windowsills and watch my family. Her shroud is a soft blanket with angels on it--the blanket that Grandma Q gave me for Christmas. When she was covered up, I played May It Be (by Enya, on the LotR-FotR soundtrack). Emotions are complex.

Thanks, Dad, for burying Fluffy with me.