Skip to main content

Of heartbreak:

Whenever I require a medical procedure of some sort, particularly when it involves needles or knives, I find myself ambivalent, at once coldly logical and unreasonably fearful. There is a disconnection between my perhaps overly rational thinking of necessity and how my body feels about potential pain or mutilation.
As a child, if I had to have blood drawn or get an injection, I would calmly inform the nurses they should call no less than four orderlies to wrap me up like a mummy and hold me down. This evoked incredulity. They never believed me until they found out I could knock the needle from their hands and fight off two grown men, or actively struggle with three. And they were always surprised.
I've since developed greater self control, more sophisticated means of subsuming my unthinking animal emotions. Typically, if someone asks me if I'm ready or calm before a treatment, I'll tell them I am, which might even be partially true. But my blood pressure levels and the colour of my knuckles will probably say otherwise.
A few years ago, I sliced open my finger, becoming light-headed with blood loss by the time I reached the ER. I played it cool right up until I passed out in the middle of getting stitches. That finger still feels weird in spots due to mild nerve damage, but I don't usually let it get in my way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An introduction to a book that doesn't exist:

Prose and verse are generally accepted as distinct writing formats with their own rules, styles, and grammars.  Though their borders are somewhat vague, they have come to be seen as something of a dichotomy in the eyes of the general public.  There are, however, at least 3 other popular approaches to writing as exhibited in picture-books, comicbooks, and plays.  Though sometimes given short shrift, these styles are accepted as literature.  They are included in libraries, book stores, and academic study.  Most importantly, they are read. In the general case, there is clearly writing being done in the creation of any one of these.  But what of the wordless comic or silent play?  Should we consider scripts written, but fully realized plays, comics, and picture-books, to be performance, art, or some other kind of non-literature?  These worries of theory are kinks to be worked out, surely, but they are not of immediate practical concern to the writer...
12 comments
Read more

Every thief must go.

Robin , chapter 5  Previous Chapter Robin kept herself busy through her unemployment doing chores and practising martial arts, but mostly she spent time playing in the woods.  The bears avoided her, and she kept out of the thieves' way, as much as she could.  This was no easy task, for Sherman's Forest had its share of scoundrels. Chief of these was Lance Bucskin, infamous for scamming old ladies and still more renowned for his hatred of puppies, which he would kick whenever the chance arose.  Even his own men found his proclivities distasteful, but he had a way with weapons and highway robbery which held his fellows in awe. LANCE-- [clad in all green with a pointed cap; has a devil may care attitude; close cropped blond hair with a well waxed van dyke beard; 28 and in peak condition, he loves exhibiting his physical prowess as much as he enjoys booting little dogs; he is holding up a family as his rapt minions stand by] They're really not all that hard to im...
6 comments
Read more

'((BORDERS))' & 'The Blue Trees' at Westlake Park

For the last few weeks, two public art projects have coexisted at Westlake Park, in the thick of Seattle's downtown. '((Borders))' is by Steinunn Thorarinsdottir , a metal sculptor who seems primarily interested in featureless people in various states and positions.  Originally installed outside of the U.N. headquarters, it is supposed to reflect something (or other) about multiculturalism.  Passersby seem most interested in the composition of the statues. Thoraninsdottir's site is pretty cool, by the way. Konstantin Dimopoulos's 'The Blue Trees' is meant to bring trees into contrast with their surroundings, and so remind people of them.  By extension, this is supposed to bring attention to deforestation, over-logging, and the like.  The actual effect is mere surreal wonderment, but anyone so confused can read the small sign standing in the middle of the park for clarification. I'm not sure how successful these are in achieving their stated int...
8 comments
Read more