Planner Planning

I have recently started trying to downsize the stuff I carry around regularly.  I bought a new sling-bag that I love.


And a folding cane in the hopes that I might be able to fold it up and stick it in my bag now and then on good days.

Unfortunately, my current day planner is a smidge too big for my new bag.  I seriously need this planner.  I have a week across 2 pages section and a month across pages section that are absolutely vital for recording appointments, work schedule, migraines, and notes.  The daily pages get notes about meds I take as needed so I can keep track of when I can take the next dose plus have an idea of my med usage over time.
I especially like having a year or 6 months worth of stuff in the planner, it makes it much easier to show patterns of symptoms or note when medication dose changes or whatever happened.

It also has all my primary doctor contact info (business cards), plain note pages, and a pocket for stowing loose paperwork.

It measures 7" x 8.5" x 1.5" - kinda big and heavy, as it's faux leather, zips shut, and is the six-ring binder style.  The interior pages themselves are about 4" x 7"  Finding a new smaller, lighter cover seems like an obvious choice, but I'm having trouble finding one that isn't over $20-40 (I'm cheap).  I'm not sure if the binder rings from the one I have or another old one could be scavenged to make an new binder myself.  If anyone has any handy links about that, do please let me know.

So, I've been exploring other options.  DIY sounds fun, but I would prefer relatively little effort or lots of tracking down of supplies.  Something that I can get soon would be really nice too.

I've considered a hipster PDA, but the lack of easy flipping back and forth and longer-term organization would be a big problem for me.  It needs to be fairly sturdy too.  And I'm not confident plain paper will work or that my printer can handle index cards.

I've also looked at the PocketMod - nifty planner folded from a single sheet of paper.  I suppose I could print lots of them and bind them somehow.

I'd really like a super easy way to just print, fold in half, and staple a bunch of regular 8.5 x 11 paper, but haven't had much luck finding that sort of thing.

I have found some fill-in date (so I can start it when I want) planners that are adorable, but I'm not sure I want to make the leap.  But they are seriously adorable, so I wanted to share.

Vintage Typewriter Style

Stick a Bird on It!

Write Every Day

Flowers!

Squee! Pottery

Image via WikipediaIn between colds, UTIs, CFS-flare ups, revenge of the grumpy-ass thyroid, and migraines I've been trying to pull things together for the archaeology day-camp for adults course I'm team teaching this summer.

I found the last time I taught that working out a general outline for lectures and then going to look for pictures for PowerPoint (or whatever presentation software) is often really helpful in getting my own brain in gear for teaching.  So, I tend to go type a few phrases in to Google Image Search and see what turns up. This is also immensely helpful in shutting up the little voice in my head screaming "how on Earth are you going to illustrate *that*?" which sends me into fetal-position procrastination.  Because if I don't work on it at all, somehow that will make it less scary.

Seriously, brains are stupid sometimes.

Anywho, as is often the case with the wonder that is the internets, I inevitably find things that are interesting but not of immediate use.  Like this link:

Project Grant Report | Byzantine Studies | Research | Dumbarton Oaks

Kiln furniture!!!  And fabulous incised sherds.  And those are the wasters - stuff that got chucked after the first firing because it didn't come out quite right.

Day-Glo Orange

Image by jima via Flickr

So, totally like these toe nails except pee.  In a toilet.

My pee is that color.

Felt like sharing that.

Seriously though, I've been taking a supplement with various B vitamins and that can apparently make your pee look like you've been gnawing on hi-lighters.

Then I got a UTI and the med for symptom relief turns pee super-super orange.    

This is kind of freakish.

And I'm on Cipro for the UTI.  If I were more uncomfortable, possibly hallucinating, trapped in the middle of the desert, surrounded by jackasses of the animal and human type, and praying for death it would be just like being in the field again.
(Cipro was the usual broad-spectrum antibiotic travel docs would give us for major GI infection, etc.  Reading the drug warnings was always awesome - ruptured tendon is one of the possible side effects.  So this usually left me working out in my head whether I felt bad enough to be okay with maybe rupturing a tendon.  Fortunately, if I couldn't even think that clearly I defaulted to just taking the damn meds.)


Anyway, the Botox seems to be wearing off as far as migraine prevention.  Although my thyroid is messed up again and the weather has sucked so that could be something to do with it.   All I know is that my forehead is very unwrinkled, I can't raise my eyebrows as much as I used to, but it feels like the connective tissue between my head and my right shoulder and most of the side of my face is actively on fire.  Also, I'm dizzy, my hands and feet have swollen up, most of my joints hurt, and my vitiligo is more obvious.

Right now the bright side is literally and figuratively my pee.

Eight

I am no longer any where near that thin, but whatever.  :P

We are still super cute.  And I got a pretty magenta-purply African violet and a holographic flower-growing card.

Tom got 8 knitted pimento-stuffed olives in a jar (Olive You) and a card with the same pun that I found completely by accident after I'd already started knitting the olives.

I need to get a photo...

Do Not Taunt Migraine Monkey

Good news:  The Botox and/or CoQ10 supplements have helped reduce my migraines in frequency and severity (at least this week).
Announcing this publicly seems to have angered the migraine monkey.  I got walloped yesterday and especially today.

Today's involved one of my least favorite aspects of the migraine aside from the pain - hyperirritability.  Even after all these years of being a migraneur, the sudden rush or wash or wave of hypersensitivity to sound and flush of near fury is disconcerting at best.
I think it's only been in the past few years that I've been able to associate this with migraine.  Before that, I would just suddenly be pissy and feel like picking a fight for absolutely no good reason.  Part of me even recognized that I had no real reason.  Figuring out it's associated with the migraines has at least helped, especially because it cues me in to taking abortive meds.

It's a truly bizarre thing though, to go from being fine one minute to the sound of traffic outside or the TV or someone eating or the neighbors upstairs walking across the floor suddenly becoming nearly unbearable sources of infuriating irritation.

The joy of dog companionship

Image by shoveling_ferret via FlickrOreo just had a walk.  The easily disgusted should probably stop reading now.

It's getting near time for another hair cut and so he had a little bit of poop stuck.  Tom got most of it with the poo bag, but O still needed a bit of a wipe when we got in.

Tom leaves to walk to the grocery store.

This leaves me with SUPER-EXCITED Oreo.  Because apparently using the bathroom outdoors is just that awesome.  I have never, ever been that happy after doing so, but hey, whatever.

Anyway, I was trying to coax Oreo to come with me to get a damp paper towel so I could wipe his booty.  Still, super excited.  And there is the following exchange:

"Okay, come here; no, hold still; no, I want to see your butt, not your face..."
Oreo proceeds to whip out some break-dancing moves.
"No, seriously, you little fart-knocker, I'm trying to wipe your butt, quit squirming, geeeeeeez."

He was still surprisingly bouncy even after he figured out there wasn't really a treat involved in me calling him.

Now he's on the couch next to me whimpering because Tom isn't here.

Still Alive

Image via WikipediaWow, time just runs away from me sometimes.

I've been a bit busy and distracted, so not as much writing has gotten done as I'd like.  I'm hoping to pull together a few posts and possibly even a bit of a redesign for the blog soon.

Oreo is most displeased that I have not spent as much time in bed lately, which consequently means that he has not spent as much time in bed as he wants.  He has actually tried to herd me into the bedroom.  And has also taken to going and crying at the foot of the bed or sitting on the side of the bed and barking to tell me he wants to go to bed.  At 1 in the afternoon.  Brat.

The weather lately has had me in a bit of a pain flair - arthritis and migraines, joy.  I've been coping as best I can.  The Botox does seem to be helping.  I'm still getting migraines (especially with crazy weather changes) but they seem to respond better to abortive meds.

Arthritis stuff is just a matter of trying to stay mobile and trying to keep NSAIDs from eating a hole in my stomach.

My eyebrows are not moving as much as they used to (or at least as I think they used to) and that continues to be weird.

Allergies are insane today.  As I said on Twitter, I feel like I've been snorgling a cat.  Gahhh.

We went to the Chicago Botanical Garden on Monday for an outing.  Beautiful, if a bit crowded.

And I have gotten some Vibram Five-Fingers and am loving them so far.  I feel a lot more secure when I'm barefoot, believe it or not, so these are a nice compromise.  I went with the Trek Sport kind so they are water friendly as well.  Very fun.  The only problem so far is the distinct lack of sparkles.

Itty Bity Spinny Committee?

I ordered 2 new drop spindles from Spinerosity earlier this week and they arrived yesterday.  One is a full-size lace weight, the other is a mini-spindle that was just too adorable (and too reasonably priced) to pass up.

I decided to play with some Norwegian undyed top (I think it's top) on the mini-spindle and am soooo glad I did.  It was ridiculously fun to spin with and I think has really really helped me get a bit better at drafting.  For the non-fiber fanatics who read the blog drafting is pretty much pulling fiber apart enough to create a thread of desired thickness via twist from spinning the spindle without pulling too much and having the spindle drop.  If you don't pull fiber apart enough you wind up with thick, chunky yarn, if you pull too much the fiber can't sustain the weight of the spindle and breaks. 

I have a spindle I bought for my birthday last year that is a bit heavier and in the range for medium weight yarns and recommended for beginners.  While I've made some progress with it, I had big problems drafting, mostly with my yarn being waaaay thicker than I wanted.

The smaller, lighter mini-spindle seems to have really, really helped me get the hang of drafting and general hand motion.  I'm still doing park-and-draft, but I'm getting better at it. 

I have my hood up because I've got a migraine. 

In Case of Rapture...

Image by AJC1 via Flickr...I will probably be very embarrassed about the pointing and laughing. 

And on that off chance, I figured I'd better post something in case the internet goes away or something.

Anyway, I haven't been posting much lately because of stupid health stuff - migraines and thyroid meds and buhhh.

Yesterday I got my Botox shots for migraines which is pretty cool.  If you have issues with needles, you may want to avoid reading the rest of the post.

I had thought I was over my tendency to faint when needles are involved - I don't mind injections or blood draws and have even made it through cannula insertion for MRI contrast without fainting, and had trigger point injections a few months ago.  I took a Klonopin yesterday morning just in case.

My neurologist got a few injections in before I felt all light-headed and fainty.  Fortunately, I felt brave enough to say "um, can I lie down, I feel a bit light-headed."  I say "brave" because for years I've always felt ashamed and embarrassed by this happening and needing to accommodate it and felt like I needed to just suck it up and deal and stop wasting people's time.  Never mind that it really isn't something I can consciously control.

Fortunately, my doctor has a wonderful bedside manner and had no problem at all.  I think the fact that all the blood drains from my face when this happens probably helps.  She was really good about chattering to distract me without being annoying and not trying to rush and getting me a cool cloth and some water and a hot resident to stare at for the rest of the injections.   I actually closed my eyes for the remainder, but I appreciated the thought.  :)

Overall, the injections themselves weren't that bad.  Maybe 2 or 3 hurt enough for me to hiss a bit but the rest were just that pinchy-sting that is normal (for me) for injections or blood draws. 

I was fine after lying still a bit more when we were done and made it to another appointment and then home with no problem.

The effects build up over time, so it's been really interesting to feel a sort of tingling numbness spread out from  the injection sites. 

They're given in sort of a hat-band pattern between the eyes, by the eyebrows, the around the side of the head and down the neck and across the top of the shoulder.  The neck and shoulder for me were the ones we're really hoping will help as I've developed some dystonia related to migraines in my right neck and shoulder.

My face still moves around normally.  I spent most of the bus ride home yesterday making funny faces and poking myself to see if I still had sensation, so I was totally the crazy lady on the bus yesterday.

I have a bit of a headache today, which is normal, and I can still feel the gradual expansion of tingly from the injection sites.  At the back of my head especially it feels almost like I'm developing a migraine but like lidocaine instead of migraine pain spreading.  Very weird and kind of cool.

I go back next week for a follow-up and a longer general visit.  The effects of the Botox are supposed to take a week or 10 days to take effect and last 30-90 days.  I think the most frequent you can have injections is every 90 days.

I'm really, really hoping this will reduce or eliminate most of my migraines.  If it does it may also mean that I'm a candidate for surgery to do permanently what the Botox does temporarily.  That would be wonderful. 
Two or three days a week of migraine is just not okay.

Still Alive-ish

Image via WikipediaMy thyroid is being stupid again so we're fiddling with Synthroid doses.  I've also been having a dreadful time with migraines and trying to catch up after the 2-week span of evil pestilence cold.

Anyway, hopefully the new Synthroid dose will get me back in the sweet spot of not too high, not too low and maybe help the migraines.

I've finally decided to give CoQ10 supplements a trial too.  There is good, if preliminary evidence from limited trials for migraine prevention.  The supplements are a pricey, which has made me hesitate trying it, but I'm desperate.  So, 100mg 3 times a day for 3 months and we'll see if it helps. 

I've tried getting back to daily exercise after slacking off for most of the winter (because I couldn't bear to take my slippers and socks off to use the Wii in the cold) and managed to over do it Sunday and am paying for it today.  Because CFS needed to remind me it owns my ass, I guess.  Anyway, finding the right amount of exercise will help the migraines too.  My neuro did warn me that too much can be as bad as too little.  Fun. 

I've been trying to discipline myself to meditate a bit in the mornings too, but I have trouble taking the time.  It feels like "wasting time" even though it may help.

Better news though is that the blood pressure med we've tried for migraine prevention is at least helping with my heart rate - it's no longer sky high all the damn time.  So, um, yay. 

It's also gotten cold again but not quite cold enough for the boiler to be back on for the radiators.  My hands and feet are screaming with Raynaud's and even my lips were purple earlier today.  And Oreo and I have been fighting over the heating pad.

Hoping I'll feel up to actual posts again soon.

Ozymandias Improved

Last month, I decided that improving Shelley's poem Ozymandias needed to be on my time-travel to-do list.

Today, I saw something about the site xtranormal, which lets you create little animated movies with whatever script you'd like.  It's fairly easy to use, even if you have practically no video or animation experience.  Inspiration, or possibly migraine aura, struck and so I decided to make a short movie with the improved version of the line in question.




I can't quite get him to say "bitches" the way I'd like, but hey, for 15 minutes of effort, not bad.

When Progress Isn't Progress

Online petition - Stop the Dams in Sudan!

The two seasons I dug in Sudan were as part of the salvage campaign before the new Merowe Dam at the 4th Cataract was completed and the reservoir it formed filled, flooding the area.

We got to see first hand what that meant for the people who lived in the area.  They were resettled in places not of their own choosing, on land unfamiliar to them, and in areas unsuitable to farming as they were accustomed.

It is unlikely any of them will ever see any great benefit from the dam itself.  The hydroelectric power it produces is intended primarily for Egypt and the money earned from that will go to the dictator in power in Khartoum.

In response to attempts to negotiate different terms of resettlement or a different time-line for construction and flooding, people were killed by state police.  Flooding was begun ahead of schedule, narrowly avoiding harm to those who remained in the area.

The new dams proposed will not be different.  They will not be a source of benefit for the people they displace.  They will be a way to enrich a dictatorial, genocidal regime headed by Bashir.  They are a way for foreign interests to endear themselves further to Bashir and his cronies for their own enrichment and access to oil and mineral wealth. They will also provide a convenient opportunity to displace the remainder of the Nubian ethnic group who managed to hang on to their tradition territory and way of life even in the face of the Aswan Dam built in the 1960s and the ongoing campaign and bias against them in Sudan and Egypt. 

Candidly, no one in power is likely to give a damn if you read the petition or sign it.  But I think as fellow human beings, we at least owe the people likely to be displaced a moment of thought and sympathy.  And maybe a small hope that things might change. 

It will be people like this kid.  And places like that run-down goat pen.  And while you might say that being placed in brand new constructed villages will make things better for them, remember that they don't get a choice.  They don't get input into how the villages are arranged or where they're placed.  And if they try to complain or negotiate, they're as likely to be shot or beaten to death as they are given a fair hearing.

amigurumi t-rex

amigurumi t-rex
Originally uploaded by perlinavichinga

RAWR!!!
Some of you are aware of my standard advice for coping with anger, irritation, fear, or boredom: Pretend to be a R-Rex! There is no way you won't feel better by holding your elbows close to your body to make little T-Rex arms while stomping around sayng "RAWR!!!!"
(Note: Not advised in public places unless you like having psych evals)

Deep Sea Diver

Deep Sea Diver
Originally uploaded by MrFoxyy

May die of the cute.

Harry Potter Trunk of Spells AKA 8 million kinds of awesome

Via GeekCrafts
Harry Potter Trunk of Spells: "

Oh, man, do I love these One Tiny Thing swaps on Craftster. Yes, yes, I’ve posted many times how much I love tiny things, but I’m going to say it again. I LOVE tiny things. And the One Tiny Harry Potter Thing swaps seem to yield the awesome-est tiny things of all. This trunk of spells by Craftster user technogoddess is just amazing. Look at all those itty bitty bottles and viles and spellbooks and even a teeny tiny bubbling cauldron! I’m in love!

• Harry Potter Trunk of Spells

"

Click through to the Craftster post for more photos and details. Super nifty.

Paramecium Microbe Embroidery Hoop Art

Paramecium Microbe Embroidery Hoop Art
Originally uploaded by whatnomints

Awesome! Go check them out!

The Trouble with Tribbles

The Trouble with Tribbles
Originally uploaded by fibrouspics

Fun-fur CAN be useful - just look at this fabulous tribble.

Mummies: CT scans of Egyptian mummies show atherosclerosis - Los Angeles Times

Image via WikipediaMummies: CT scans of Egyptian mummies show atherosclerosis - Los Angeles Times

I have the pestilence (cold) from hell at the moment, but this article was really interesting and I wanted to share it.

If you hadn't already guessed, I tend not to have a lot of patience for people who overly romanticize "non-Western" cultures (and often the concept of non-Western extends into the past to mean anything prior to the Industrial Revolution).
Therefore, this article about artherosclerosis, which is typically characterized as a disease of modern life, being found in Egyptian mummies is particularly interesting. One does have to wonder how much the results were determined by the relatively higher social status of the people being mummified and their greater access to diets that may have been less healthy.

It's interesting, though, the number of people who seem to think that if we could just transport some of the basics of modern hygiene and medicine into the pre-Industrial past that it would be a veritable utopia.

Not sure if this is making much sense as I'm loopy from the cold and stuff to kill the symptoms.

Anyway, ancient heart disease. Interesting.

Oreo Report Card of the Day - EE

Image by shoveling_ferret via Flickr

Slavering hell-hound of badness

For "Exceeds Expectations."  In badness.

We just went for our evening walk.  Oreo, because he is a punkass, likes to do his pooping on the triangle of grass by the curb at intersections, especially near busier streets because, I dunno, watching traffic helps or something.
Ordinarily, this isn't too much trouble for me, but today was special.  We just bought some of the doggy poop bags that come in rolls because we no longer shop frequently in places that give out plastic shopping bags that are easily converted to poop bags. 

Today was the first day I had tried using them.

So, there I am, dog leash held tightly in one hand, cane sort of balanced against my body, trying to get the freakin' bag to open so I can pick up poop.
And then a bus drives by.

Apparently, Oreo's entire family was killed by ninja buses or something because damn does that little dog go bug nuts when he sees and hears a bus.  He makes an exception for buses that have stopped, though, especially if the doors are open at which point he tries to get on the bus.  Sigh.

So, trying to keep balance, keep dog from running into street, balance cane, and get stupid plastic baggy open.

Then 3 kids wander by all "oh, he's so cute!"  And Oreo, attention whore that he is, is all like "I must greet my adoring fans!" And starts yanking in the other direction. 

And right behind the kids is their dad.  With a Basset Hound.

Oreo immeadiately goes from "aren't I the cutest, specialist, most pwecious doggy ever?" to "ZOMG I will KILL YOU!!!!!!  Growly-barky-snarl!"

Still can't get the bag open.

Dude with Basset Hound is like "is he friendly?"  I stopped fiddling with the bag and damn near let my can fall over staring at him for a minute before I managed to get out "um, not so much."

So, perfectly nice Basset Hound and family go away.  Oreo continues barking and lunging in all directions because I dunno why.

I finally get the bag open and pick up his poop and throw it out. 

He was actually fairly well behaved for the rest of his walk, but I think that's because he realized what a little shit he'd been.  He's now snuggled on my lap.  Only because I wanted a lap warmer, though. 

Loot

My birthday was on Wednesday. There was loot.

The Oreos are already gone.  I have to find something to attach the "Beware of Attack Ferret" sign to.  And I'm fiddling around trying to figure out a way to send only some of my news from Google Reader to my Kindle.