Wednesday update

[mrissa]

My doctor took a bunch of blood and will run it through the full workup of tests again, either for something newly wrong or for a trend in my blood tests over the last year. If I'm having consistently falling levels of something-or-other, even if they're still in the normal range, she'll spot it. I also have two specialists to see, consecutively rather than concurrently, and a third specialist whose tests sound unpleasant and unlikely to arrive at the root of the problem, and so who we have not decided to have me see yet, preferring to see if the others come up with something or if the symptoms go away again. So I'll be making the first of those appointments today if they'll let me.

The Nurse Poodle does not approve of people taking my blood. She keeps sniffing the spot in crook of my elbow and looking up at me: monkey, is this okay? Concerned Puppy Face is extremely sweet. Also, Ista came back from her grooming on Monday particularly fine. The neighbors across the circle sent their articulate five-year-old with some of their garden strawberries for us, and she kept repeating, "Oh, she's so pretty, what a pretty little poodle puppy!" (Ista was also much taken with the kiddo.)

I am still much less steady than I would prefer to be. As of this morning, I am still not drive-safe. I continue to have hopes that this will ease off soon. I have all kinds of stuff I've been wanting to babble about on lj, but it just hasn't been making the cut for spending my upright time.

I don't like to whine, but I am not enjoying this. Other than the dizziness, I'm mostly feeling fine, so I'm annoyed with having to behave more like an invalid than I feel. And then I stand up, or even sit without support, and I feel plenty broken. So. We will try to get there from here. And we will try not to be too cranky in the meantime.

columbina asked readers to write clerihews for C. -- not necessarily featuring C., I don't think -- and I told timprov I wouldn't ask you-all to write me limericks because I feared you'd do it. So: what wouldn't you ask of your friendslist, knowing that several of them would oblige?

Comments

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

That's easy. I would never ask my friendslist any of those "honesty" questions, like who has a crush on me, what do people really think of me, what is my greatest weakness, etc. Nope, don't ask what you don't want to know is my philosophy.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

One of the lj versions of a slam book, yes. I am more than capable of listing my own weaknesses (hint: the color yellow is not on the list) and do not require my friends to do it for me. I also don't intend to do the "10/20 comments directed at people without labels" for similar reasons: if I want to tell you you're awesome, I'll make sure you know it's you, and if I want to tell you you suck, well, what good does it do if you sit there and think, "oh, I know OtherLJer is totally a pain that way!"?

[wilfulcait.livejournal.com]

The one I just saw this morning, asking who would like to date or sleep with you? Well, (a), I know this for the people for whom I want to know it and (b) for the rest, well, it's not happening, so why would I ask this question?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, if that's not a position for which you're holding auditions, why put out the casting call?

I am sometimes amused at the way people wiggle past the question, though.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

That would be mine, as well.

[aet.livejournal.com]

"what wouldn't you ask of your friendslist, knowing that several of them would oblige?"

I can honestly say I am free to ask anything as there is no danger of people over reacting.

Wait, if I would ask for money, then, may-be ...

[barondave.livejournal.com]

My friends tend to be ornery, and probably wouldn't oblige an unreasonable request. (Yes, I'm including you.)

And... what's wrong with limericks?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

timprov and I have been mostly on the wagon since the Great Limerick Binge of '99, and we don't need temptation to think we could write just one.

People think I'm kidding, but we wrote several gross of limericks in a fortnight, on more topics than I really care to contemplate. It infected everything.

[scottjames.livejournal.com]

I remember. There was one that ended with "Students who avoid the really obvious rhymes" that I particularly enjoyed.

[(Anonymous)]

About my professor, Chuck. Yes. Only my actual last line scanned.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Stupid lj. That was me.

[scottjames.livejournal.com]

Yeah, whatever. At least I remembered to log in.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

This time.

Past times may not be your fault in the same way that this was not mine: lj will log you out more or less at random. It's annoying.

[jim0052.livejournal.com]

Re: I wouldn't ask you-all to write me limericks

Too late!

=====

A writer we know named Marissa
Felt like she fell in an abyssa.
Her plucky Nurse Poodle
Whipped up some great strudel,
And made her all well with a kissa!

=====

Hope you're feeling like a million bucks soon!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks. Sadly, Ista is much better at kissas than at strudel. I could really go for some strudel right now. Lazy dog.

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

Like a bunch of people have already said, I dislike many of the memes that ask people impertinent questions. I'll sometimes ask people to ask me questions, but that strikes me as somehow different.

I know I don't comment too much about your health issues, but I do hope you realize that it's not because I don't care, it's because I don't necessarily know what to say. I'm not good with the sympathy when I can't ineffectually pat someone on the back and offer to fetch things for them.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I'm not posting looking for sympathy, so I really don't mind. I see it more as information ("this is what's going on with me, and also why I haven't called you back about coffee if you live around here"). So really, no worries. I know you care.

"Ask me a question" is very different. Among other things, if someone gets really rude, you can just say, "Uh, dude, next question" and move on with your life.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

Will you write limericks for me for my cover letters? I think it would make me stand out of the crowd.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

Because what you really want in your cover letters are limericks that are both dirty and theological?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Apparently I should put out an ad: "will write dirty theological limericks for $$$."

Only $$$, though. I am not getting back into this for mere $$.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

Right, like the Song of Songs, except shorter.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I miss having a pet with empathy. One of the things I loved best about my senior cat was that he could tell when I was upset and some over to be with me, even at times when he'd normally be with Ted instead. The junior cat is still around but he's all me-me-me.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Sometimes Ista's idea of what to do to make the monkeys feel better is a little off: you will feel much better if you chase the puppy around the yard, right? Right, monkey? Right? But mostly she's a very good nurse poodle. She spent the last hour holding me down so I wouldn't try to wander around and do stuff dizzy. Like a paperweight, only a Mrissaweight instead.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

....because of course she is a Big Tough Grown-Up Dog and therefore you couldn't possibly move from under her weight.

I hope you have a laptop and wireless so you can be sedentary while online. I went through a period when I got dizzy if I tued my head a certain way the fall before last, and it was extremely inconvenient. I was just starting instrument training at that point and was doing a lot of flying, as well as rowing - both things that don't combine well with vertigo. After two doctors, mine turned out to be harmless Benign Positional Paroxysmal Vertigo, which went away with some very silly-looking exercises, and I am hoping for a similarly easy resolution for you.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I do not have a laptop or wireless. The wiring goes down to the family room so if I had a laptop, I could take it to the sofa. But I don't. So when you see me here, it's in my upright periods of the day, some of them brief.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Then may the periods when you are able to be online (or, better, doing all parts of your life that are best conducted in an upright position) grow longer.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't ask for fanfic of any sort, particularly anything involving HP.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Would your friendslist oblige with HP fanfic? Do you have a particularly lot of HP fanfic folks on your friendslist? I have some fanfic writers on mine for other reasons than their fanfic writing, but I don't think they have much of a consistent fandom in common.

[markgritter.livejournal.com]

Hewlett-Packard fan fiction? The mind boggles. ;)

[alecaustin.livejournal.com]

Would that be anything like Furnie (http://elothtes.pbwiki.com/Furnies) fic?

[mkille.livejournal.com]

Carly Fiorina/Walter Hewlett. Sweet!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, and I'm much more concerned with people thinking, "Oh noes, she means meeeee!" than with people thinking, "She must mean some other person -- I never do that thing I always do!"

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

That would probably be my vote, too. That meme always strikes me as passive-aggressive. If you want somebody to know something, then _tell_ them. Hinting at it and hoping they'll read your mind and/or know you mean them? Is not fair.

Which goes for good things as well as far ungood.

(Hope you're feeling better soon. It's good to have time to sprawl around and read, but better to have it be an option rather than the only possible thing to do.)

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I'd not ask my friends to write filk,
Though some of them are of that ilk,
Nor write poems, spells, or charms,
Nor to keep and bear arms,
Though I'd like if they'd bring chocolate milk.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Even if I was drive-safe, it'd be warm and nasty by the time I got up there.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

That's okay - it's the thought that counts. Hope you get to feeling better. :-)

[rosefox]

I wouldn't ask for compliments, because none of the ones I would get would be of the sort I want.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That's very astute of you.

(Psssst, is that the kind you wanted?)

[rosefox]

*laugh*

[laurel]

Sympathies re the dizziness. It's like you say: you aren't so unwell that you don't want to do things, but then it's uncomfortable to try and do some things. If you follow me. I was uber-dizzy memorial day weekend and I'd occasionally think "hey, it'd be fun to see a movie" only to realize that I probably shouldn't drive or shouldn't drive far and that depending on the movie, it might make things worse or be hard to watch.

I'm not wild about most memes.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, and for me it's only partly the fun things (although that's a strong enough part that I'm somewhat mopey). It's that I feel like I ought to be able to drive to the bank, etc. etc., and get stuff done.