Because abscessed brains can cause tumors... <it is not a too-mah!>
Borrowed heavily from Wiki...
Things I am Loathing today:
Things I am Loving today:
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When things go bump inside your head...
I was working last night, part of yet another stint of 12 hour shifts, when I received an urgent call from my sister. I couldn't take the call at the moment, but caught her voicemail about twenty minutes later. Upon calling her back, she asked if anyone from the family had called me yet. Uh, my family? Call me? Heck, my Mom lived three hours away and I barely got her to call me once in the four years she lived there. My sister then carefully proceeds to tell me that my Dad is in the hospital, he is ok but has had another cardiac incident (doctor-speak for heart attack of unknown proportions).
She got the call yesterday at 5:00 AM her time, 7:00 AM Chicago time. She tried to call him at the hospital and had no luck until about 4:00 PM Chicago time due to tests and other hospital things. When she talked to him, she said he sounded fine but they were still planning some tests. I let my wife know so she could pass word along to the kids. About ten minutes ago, I received a call from the daughter, who had called around until someone finally answered and she found out that Dad was being sent for an EKG due to an increase in his heart rate. It looks like they may have to go in and place a stent again.
I still have yet to actually talk directly to my Dad, which will be an extremely difficult thing to do emotionally. I almost lost him once a few years ago due to heart problems. I know people get old, I know they have health problems, it just always seems like there will be more time. Time to say what you should have said, time to talk about the things that should have been discussed, time to say, "I love you" one more time. I was wandering around the plant floor last night in a deep mood after that phone call from my sister and just I kept wondering why no one in the family had called me. They had evidently called everyone else but me. Even today, I'm still waiting for that call...
I just hope I get the chance to say, "I love you" one more time Dad...
]]>Things I am Loathing today:
Things I am Loving today:
For the completely bored people who have nothing better to do than to see my life reduced to a sequence of actions bolded and underlined when they've been achieved. Feel free to do this yourselves. Enjoy...
Bought everyone in the pub a drink
Swam with wild dolphins
Climbed a mountain
Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
Been inside the Great Pyramid (on my list)
Held a tarantula
Taken a candlelit bath with someone
Said "I love you" and meant it
Hugged a tree
Done a striptease
Bungee jumped (on my list)
Visited Paris (on my list)
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game
Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars
Changed a baby's diaper
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon (on my list)
Watched a meteor shower
Gotten drunk on champagne
Given more than you can afford to charity
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a food fight
Bet on a winning horse
Taken a sick day when you're not ill
Asked out a stranger
Had a snowball fight
Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
Held a lamb
Enacted a favorite fantasy
Taken a midnight skinny dip
Taken an ice cold bath
Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
Seen a total eclipse
Ridden a roller coaster
Hit a home run
Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
Adopted an accent for an entire day
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (on my list)
Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
Had 2 hard drives for your computer
Visited all 50 states (over 30)
Loved your job for all accounts
Taken care of someone who was shit-faced
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Had amazing friends
Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
Watched wild whales (on my list)
Stolen a sign
Backpacked in Europe
Taken a road-trip
Rock climbing
Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
Midnight walk on the beach
Sky diving (on my list)
Visited Ireland
Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
Visited Japan (on my list)
Benchpressed your own weight
Milked a cow
Alphabetized your records
Pretended to be a superhero
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day
Posed nude in front of strangers (on purpose? No)
Scuba diving
Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Played in the rain
Gone to a drive-in theater
Done something you should regret, but don't regret it
Visited the Great Wall of China (on my list)
Learned that someone who's not supposed to know about your blog has found it
Dropped Windows in favor of something better
Started a business
Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
Toured ancient sites
Taken a martial arts class
Sword fought for the honor of a woman for my own pleasure
Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
Gotten married
Been in a movie
Crashed a party
Loved someone you shouldn't have
Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
Gotten divorced
Had sex at the office
Gone without food for 5 days
Made cookies from scratch
Ridden a gondola in Venice (on my list)
Won First Prize in a costume contest
Gotten a tattoo
Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
Rafted the Snake River
Been on television news programs as an "expert"
Got flowers for no reason
Masturbated (someone else) in a public place
Got so drunk you don't remember anything
Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
Performed on stage
Been to Las Vegas
Recorded music
Eaten shark
Had a one-night stand
Gone to Thailand
Seen Siouxsie live
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone (family reunions count?)
Buried one/both of your parents
Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
Been on a cruise ship (on my list)
Spoken more than one language fluently
Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
Bounced a check
Performed in Rocky Horror
Read - and understood - your credit report
Raised children
Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
Created and named your own constellation of stars
Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
Found out something significant that your ancestors did
Called or written your Congress person MP
Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
...more than once? - More than thrice?
Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
Had an abortion or your female partner did
Had plastic surgery
Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
Wrote articles for a large publication
Lost over 100 pounds
Held someone while they were having a flashback
Piloted an airplane
Petted a stingray
Broken someone's heart
Helped an animal give birth
Been fired or laid off from a job
Won money on a T.V. game show
Broken a bone
Killed a human being (I plead the fifth)
Gone on an African photo safari (on my list)
Ridden a motorcycle
Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol
Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
Ridden a horse
Had major surgery
Had sex on a moving train (on my list)
Had a snake as a pet
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (on my list)
Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
Visited all 7 continents
Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
Eaten kangaroo meat
Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
Been a sperm or egg donor
Eaten sushi
Had your picture in the newspaper
Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
Gotten someone fired for their actions
Gone back to school
Parasailed (on my list)
Changed your name
Petted a cockroach
Eaten fried green tomatoes
Read The Iliad
Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
Dined in a restaurant and stolen something because your apartment needed it
...and gotten 86'ed because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
Skipped all your school reunions
Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
Been elected to public office
Written your own computer language
Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
Had to put someone you love into hospice care
Built your own PC from parts
Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
Had a booth at a street fair
Dyed your hair
Been a DJ
Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
Written your own role playing game
Been arrested
Otherwise you get ring around the temple. Then scrubbing bubbles in your brain pan.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I'm off Sunday (so far) and look forward to a day at the Zoo... How about you?
]]>Ok, I'm dumb. I have known this from an early age. You know that stupid kid in movies, who gets warned about saying another word and then does it anyways? That kid was me. Always getting smacked, grounded, you name it. Just stupid. My Mom used to get ulcers, I think, because of my idiotic tendencies. Dad would have us all front and center, delivering a proper dressing down about how we were to quit horsing around and by the grace of all that was holy, there better not be so much as another peep out of any of us. Cue the stupid cam and... Action! "Peep". I can almost hear Mom's body cringe as Dad's arm shot out and connected with the back of my head. <Pow!> Just stupid.
Oh the lovely images that all come rushing back to my head. What brought on this latest foray into the past you may ask? I was sitting in my office having lunch tonight, doing a little web browsing. I've several sites to keep my mind entertained whilst I munched on some grindage. I was perusing some more video links and came across one that had a montage of kids doing stupid stuff and the terrible wipeouts they endured. I think it was called Scarred. One kid wiped out after jumping a big set of stairs and knocked out a bunch of teeth, one kid jumped his skateboard, flubbed the landing and actually flipped the board up to hit himself in the eye with it. One guy broke his arm, one his leg, one flipped down a flight of stairs, landed on his head and went into seizures.
So why does all this dredge up memories of stupid stuff? Well, if I'd have had a video camera back in the day, that could've been me and my parents would have had heart attacks. Needless to say, as kids, we did stupid shit. Really stupid shit. The stuff I got hurt doing was stuff I wasn't really trying to do anything dangerous. Broke my collarbone, tore my knee open to the bone, broke fingers, almost poked an eye out, really rough stuff. I was sitting there watching those videos and suddenly it dawned on me. That was the view of things my friends had when I was doing stupid shit. The spectator view. The "Oh My God This Is Terrible, But I Can't Look Away" View. Sure, they got hurt too, but I was Superman. I could do anything, or at least attempt to do anything. Almost...
So, as that video came to an end and the recap flashed across the screen, I realized how truly lucky I am to be alive today. Well, truly lucky to also not be a quadraplegic. Another quarter inch here or there would have done me in more than once. Just like the time I cracked the cartilage in my sternum. You know, here I am, 40 years old and there are mornings that I wake up hurting from that injury (that never heals) because I slept with my arm in the wrong position? Why the hell don't they warn us about that stuff when we are kids? Yeah, I know why. Because we wouldn't listen. If we were told not to do something. In fact, it would be the first thing we'd try to go out and do.
So, I guess this post is a sort of tribute to my younger self. A sort of thank you. Despite all the stupid shit you attempted and sometimes failed miserably at, you succeeded in not getting us killed at an early age. I can't say that for some of my friends who are no longer here, but stupid as I was, I'm still here.
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