their system doesn't work for you

justin sane is writing a blog for blurt magazine, so check it out and leave a comment or two if you have something to say. scroll down and you'll see the blogs on the right hand side of the screen. i could have done a direct link but i wasn't familiar with blurt so i thought some of you might want to check it out, too.

the late, great george carlin

we lost a great comedian and great american recently, none other than george carlin. here's a brilliant piece about him from the nation magazine blog that explains not only why he was such a good comedian, but also such a influential person.

rest in peace, george. a lot of us will miss you.

go amir, go!!!!

for those of you who have no idea who the heck amir is, he's this year's ultimate fighter!!! and woo hoo hooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amir was by far my favorite guy on the show and is a total class act. very funny, very unassuming, lots of self-deprecating humor, just a very likable guy who i was rooting for from the beginninng! yes, we're back in the land of mixed martial arts (mma), my newest passion.

for the uninitiated, the ultimate fighter is a reality television show (this was the 7th season) where mma athletes compete to be the last man standing (literally) at the end of the season. the teams are coached by current mma fighters, this year they were forrest griffin and quinten "rampage" jackson. the winner receives a contract with the ultimate fighting championship and they get fast tracked for a title fight. this year's winner is the dishy gentleman in the picture, amir sadollah.

i just have to say right here that forrest griffin and rampage jackson were really great. i've only seen the ultimate fighter 6, last season, and those coaches, matt hughes and matt serra, couldn't stand each other. they were really, really, really just tolerating each other, barely, so while that made for some drama it was also kind of, well, it was just kind of icky. made for crappy dynamics between the fighters in the house, and that kind of sucked, i thought. forrest and rampage were the complete opposite. they obviously like and have a great regard for one another, so the overall atmosphere this year was just so much better and so much more fun. they were also both very funny. rampage would say stuff sometimes that was completely obvious but the way he said it was so funny, and forrest would say what you were thinking but might not say. they were really great, forrest has a great talent for coaching which was impressive to see, and i can't wait to see their fight july 5th. it's gonna be wild!

back to the fight at hand! it was a really exciting fight, and the first re-match for the winner of the show, ever. amir had already defeated cb dolloway in the semi-final. both drew and i really disliked cb. he's a good fighter, i'll give him that, but he's also an arrogant, cocky, self-important jock and he really rubbed me the wrong way (and judging from the comments on a youtube video of one of amir's kickboxing matches, i wasn't the only one.) anyway, amir was supposed to fight a different guy, jesse taylor, but jesse got kicked off the show after it finished for some bad, drunken behavior. i felt really bad for him because jesse's basically a good kid. not the brightest bulb on the christmas tree, but not malicious and a seriously good fighter. we'll see him again, to be sure. to figure out who amir would fight they brought back the two guys who lost the semi-final matches and they fought each other. i liked cb's opponent in that match, tim credeur, so much better than cb. tim was another guy on the show we really liked, but it was so satisfying to watch amir kick cb's ass - again. using the same move, too! you'd think he'd have figured out he couldn't let himself get stuck in a standing arm bar, but he didn't.

the championship fight was on saturday but i didn't see it until last night because i was waiting for drew to get home from his trip to seattle so we could watch it together. i'd watched the last episode of the regular season, the amir v. cb semi-final fight, the night before. fuck, it was nerve wracking!!!! i was squealing and jumping around and almost biting my fingernails, and i quit biting my fingernails in third grade. it went almost the whole three rounds, too, but amir caught cb in an arm bar half way through the third round! it was an illuminating fight, because the rest of cb's fights during the show didn't go very long and he gassed by the end of the first round, which was but really wasn't kind of surprising, if one thinks about it. even more surprising was his inability to do much of anything once he had amir on the ground. he could take him down (which was frustrating) but he only passed his guard twice and for the amount of punches he was throwing very few actually connected. amir, meanwhile, was throwing very hard punches and great head kicks and his ability to defend himself when cb had him on the ground was really fucking impressive. drew reminded me that he is a jiujitsu guy, which i had kind of forgotten because he's also a kick boxer and i'm partial to kick boxers. don't ask me why, i just am.

i was so seriously thrilled when amir won the final fight. ask drew - i was shouting and jumping up and down and doing the happy dance until drew reminded me i should really be watching my back. so i quit jumping up and down but seriously, i'm still fucking elated!!! it was so great to see someone who is a really nice guy, who's obviously intelligent and reflective and so un-jock like, win the show. and amir hadn't had any professional fights before getting on the show, which was also pretty unusual. amir was just so unassuming all the way through the show that i really think people underestimated him. he wasn't doing the whole "i'm gonna clean up the floor with him" b.s. that so many fighters do, and it was a refreshing change.

the other thing i like about amir, which caught my attention at the start of tuf7, is that from his full and 3/4 profile he looks exactly like my friend, jamie. jamie would never have been caught dead doing something like mma. i just can't even imagine it. but it was really neat to see this guy who turned out to be such a likable, nice guy who also, on occasion, looks so much like my dear friend who i miss so much. i'll always have a soft spot for amir because he looks like jamie. i'm just so glad he won. i've never been so excited about anyone winning a fight, ever, not even gsp. woo hoo, amir!!!!

adventures in bee keeping

well, okay, we don't actually have any bees that we are keeping (yet) but you can learn some of the basics in this really awesome book that drew got out of the library, a slice of organic life. i LOVE this book! i bought a copy on amazon, it's that neat-o. it's full of all kinds of nifty things you can do to live greener, whether you live in a city apartment or have a few acres in the country. it covers everything from growing herbs in pots to keeping bees, chickens, milk cows and pigs to making preserves to using natural cleaners to making your own beeswax floor polish!!!! i really like the floor polish one. when i was a kid we had this floor buffer, which was kind of like a vacuum cleaner but it had these two round brushes and it was kind of out of control wild when turned on. you had to hold on tight or it could totally spin away from you. i have no idea where my mother got it. anyway, it was really fun to use and i remember going through a phase where me and my brothers, joe and justin, andi think my sister, molly, too, would polish the kitchen, dining room and hall floors. there we were on hands and knees putting polish on the floors and then breaking out the buffer. i know it's hard to believe that this could have been any fun for kids but we had a blast doing it and the floors looked so nice. i don't even think you're supposed to wax linoleum floors like the one in my parents' kitchen, and it's the same floor that they have now. they've had that baby for going on 34 or 35 years and there's just this one tile that's a little smashed in one corner. i remember being a squirt when my dad was putting it in and leaning up against his back so i could peek over his shoulder. it's amazing parents get anything done. how that floor has lasted so long i have no idea but perhaps the recreational waxing had something to do with it. if anyone wonders how i grew up to be a martha of the first magnitude, this post should clear that right up.

speaking of which we have a ton of tomato plants! there are the five that jimbo bought that are planted in the garden and they've gone wild! one of them is over three feet tall and most of the rest are not far behind. ironically, it's the smallest plant that we got our first two tomatoes from and they were delicious! then we have the eight or so "volunteers" that drew was experimenting with on the other side of the house in the rose bed. he wondered if we'd get any tomatoes if he just threw some old ones we didn't get around to using on the ground and guess what? they grow. there are easily eight tomato plants over there (roma tomatoes) and that's after me thinning them out. if i'd realized he was going to throw so many tomatoes around i'd have suggested he toss them somewhere other than the rose bed, but oh well.

i've decide i need to learn how to can things because we're gonna have a glut of tomatoes and i use chopped tomatoes so much for cooking, and it would be a crime to let them go to waste. besides, there's nothing like an in-season tomato fresh from your own garden. my mom used to can tomatoes all the time when i was a kid so i will get some tips from her and research it a bit at the library and on the internet. i hated canning tomatoes when i was a kid. the fricking things would make your hands burn after a while because they're so acidic, and i didn't eat tomatoes or any other vegetables if i could mange it, so it seemed doubly unjust that i was being forced to toil over the tomato grinder like some orphan child in dickens story. i also felt very oppressed when i had to pick green beans. it's pretty hilarious now since i love both green beans and tomatoes and can't wait to do some canning. just goes to show... you can never entirely escape your upbringing, not that i've tried very hard.

no moon in june for me

there is still not much going on with me at the moment which is why i haven't been blogging. i have also been kind of bummed because this weekend is the annual moon in june event up at kowana valley ranch near yosemite and i am obviously missing it! lynn & richard are a really awesome couple who own kowana valley ranch and host a mostly irish music and dance festival every year that is loads of fun. i missed it for the five years i was living in pittsburgh and was delighted to be able to go again last year. it was fantastic, as usual!!!!! i have been looking forward to it all year and my stupid back prevented me from attending. argh!!!!

seriously... you have no idea how bummed i am. i forbade drew making any other plans all year so that he could come with me because i knew he'd love it and i really wanted him to come. he gamely agreed to go along with me, because really... those of you who know drew know that there's really no way to forbid him doing anything. he's so contrary he'd do whatever it was just because you said he couldn't. there are so many awesome people who go to moon in june, lynn & richard are so wonderful, there's music and dancing and singing and campfires and hikes and swimming and more amazingly yummy food than you can imagine! it is so much fun!!!! you can always count on a good bottle of bourbon making the rounds of at least one of the campfires by midnight, too, which i mightily appreciate. i took up a bottle of knob creek bourbon last year as a birthday present for richard and it was very entertaining to watch people taking a slug as it made its way round the campfire because the bourbon drinkers really appreciated it while the novices made horrible faces and thought it was yucky. can you imagine anyone thinking knob creek is yucky, fellow bourbon lovers? even thought it was utterly wasted on some folks the amusement factor was definitely worth it. i was planning to bring along several good bourbons this year, but alas! well, i always have next year to look forward to and my brother mick, who is an amazing irish musician, and his wife are tentatively planning to come out for it, which would be awesome! i know they'll love it. it's just next year is so far away. sigh! then again, lots of people never get to go to anything like moon in june, ever, so i guess i should count my blessings.

anyway, that's it for me. hope all is well in the wider world. :-)

no wild news here, but felt like i should post and check in with everyone. i kind of feel silly saying "everyone" as i think there are about fifteen people who read my blog, maybe, and of that, probably three who do so consistently. i have no illusions that i am setting the blog sphere on fire. but still, it's fun and i enjoy it, and anything that keeps me feeling connected while i'm stuck home on my own is a worthwhile exercise.

i am feeling better and better everyday - thank God for surgery! i have a follow up appointment tomorrow and if that goes well i'll be starting physical therapy thereafter. i can't imagine it won't go well since i've been doing what i was told to do and have only overdone it twice since starting to really feel better. for an overachiever wanna go-go-go girl that's pretty darn good. apart from the aforementioned over did it incidents, a door to door hour long trip to the grocery store (i didn't carry anything) and a walk, i've been very conscious that even though i'm feeling better, i'm not. i don't want to do anything that will imperil my recovery... like, say... down hill skiing three weeks after surgery. i actually heard a story about someone who had the same surgery i had who did just that. guess what he ended up needing to do again, only more complicated and involving fusing bones and putting hardware into his spine? man, you kids are sharp! as much as i am profoundly grateful and thankful and thrilled that surgery has been able to help me, i don't plan to make a habit of it.

oh, i forgot to thank dave & diane for the get well card they sent me in my last post, so thank you!!! it was a funny one, too.

that's it for me as i need to get out of this chair... no sitting for more than 30 minutes or else i turn into an bad, achy pumpkin. i like pumpkins as much as the next gal, but i really don't want to be one. :)

surgery (aka gimpy no more!)

hallo everyone!!!! sorry it has been so long since i posted but i have been rather busy. a week ago tuesday, may 13th, was my surgery. i have to admit to being completely freaked out by the prospect but i'll do something before recounting the tale that i generally hate: give away the ending. it was a great success!!!!! i feel so much better it is not funny!!! yes, my back hurt a lot at first - it was cut into after all, but that shooting nerve pain down my leg and across my back that made it impossible to walk or stand up straight or enjoy life in any way is gone. hasta la vista, baby. yippee!!!!! all the numbness and pins & needles in my foot and leg were gone immediately after surgery. then they came back, but that is normal. it was actually freaking me out, but the same day that i got confirmation from the doctor (again) that is was indeed completely normal was the day they seemed to start going away. coincidence? i think not. it takes a while for things to settle down with the nerve is what i was told.

anyway, my surgeon, dr. blumenfeld, said he had never seen a disc herniate in quite the way mine had. even though i heard this afterwards, when it was clear that the surgery had been a success, i have to say... it's still not something you want your surgeon who has done over 1,000 back surgeries to say to you. i can't really explain well in writing just how it was different, apart from the direction it took upon herniating was obviously bizarre, so i won't even try. the other way it was different was that a piece of the extruded disc (the jelly-ish inner disc stuff that had herniated out through the tough outer disc) had broken off and migrated to the nerve root so that the nerve was getting pinched from two directions - from that little piece and from all the crap extruding from the disc. poor little nerve!!!! there was no way that was going to get better on its own so i am really happy i didn't bother with the epidural cortisone shot. i'd have ended up needing surgery once it wore off and it would have been two to four more weeks of fucking around beforehand.

i am so happy that i had surgery!!!!!!!!!!!! fifty years ago i'd have ended up a cripple in constant pain (or an addicted cripple in constant pain), and that's no exaggeration, so let's hear it for medical science and science in general!!!! i don't care what those flat-earther "intelligent design" folks say: science is our friend!!!! it's funny, that, because it seems to be the protestant "born again" denominations (in the u.s. anyway) that have problems with science. the official stance of the catholic church re: science and faith is that they are totally compatible, because science helps us better understand God's creation. it took a couple thousand years but is some ways my church is downright civilized. :)

but i digress...

i was pretty freaked out going in, barely slept the night before because of pain, and cried at least three times on the way to the hospital. my poor husband is all i can say. once i got checked and was being cared for by the pre-surgery nurses that all changed. they gave me painkillers and valium (i was so thankful for the valium i started laughing and saying thank you at the same time) and by the time they took me out to the operating room i wasn't really caring much what happened. i mean, i did care, of course but i wasn't anxious about it. the anesthesiologist, dr. kennedy, was very nice, explained things to me, told me how i was going to be put on my tummy and showed me the thing they were going to put my face on, even pressed it on my face so i'd know what it was like. dr. blumenfeld said hi from the other side of the operating table, which i wasn't on yet (they knocked me out for that, merciful creatures!), then dr. kennedy told me he was giving me a shot to help me relax and the next thing i knew i was in the recovery room! i had been freaked out about the general anesthetic, and i realized later that i was freaked out about knowing it was coming. i had envisioned what you see in all the movies... the mask coming down over your mouth and nose and being told to count backwards from ten. the way dr. kennedy did it was perfect because i had no idea he was starting to put me under with that shot.

so, i've been home since a week ago wednesday, may 14th. the nurses, everyone in fact, at good samaritan hospital were fantastic!!!! i've never been in the hospital when i've been really sick or debilitated before and they were just awesome! i felt so cared for. i hope you never do, but if you happen to herniate your disc in the san jose area and need to see a neurosurgeon, i highly recommend dr. blumenfeld and good samaritan hospital. the first two days home were kind of rough but drew and my sister, lucy, took very good care of me, and after that it started to get a lot better. by sunday i was able to get in and out of bed by myself. i'm able to take walks (in fact i am supposed to take frequent short walks) and have even taken solo walks around the block. the walks with drew are a lot more fun, but the poor guy has to go to work sometime. only bummer with the walks around the block is that unless i take it during the middle of the day i can't take zinger with me. i took one around 5 pm and that was a mistake in that she and baby, a little dog in the neighborhood, started barking at each other and i realized were zinger and a dog she might actually get into with would be a disaster, because i couldn't reel her in or intervene. won't make that mistake again. luckily during the day nobody's dogs are out, since they're at work.

that kind of brings me back to my big pet peeve about santa cruz and dogs: many people think leashes are optional and fireworks are mandatory. don't ask me why because for the life of me i can't figure it out.

in other news, i finished in two days a sensational book, lonely werewolf girl, by martin millar. you simply must read this book - it's hilarious!!!! and the chapters are all of three to four pages long, so even though it's about 230 pages you just rip through it. the short chapters kind of remind me of another of my favorite books, the serial, a year long tale of life in marin county in the seventies. it might be thirty years later, but a lot of things about marin, not to mention the bay area, have not changed one bit. :)

i also got some very pretty flowers. i forgot to take a picture of the ones from mom & dad while they were looking good, but i got these from lucy & laurence:





















and these from kendra and andy:





















THANKS!!!! and i got cards from arlene & don, christie & david & evelyn, and i know i'm forgetting someone else but drew is ready to throw me out of this chair, so i'll get you later. promise.

happy to see you all again.
(((((hugs)))))
anne