Stuff People Seem To Like #5: H1N1/Swine flu

Don’t get me wrong. People don’t really “like” swine flu, H1N1, but they sure are obsessed with it. I think I darn well might have it right now. Every respectable health source I’ve looked at seems to be indicating that the standard flu isn’t here yet and most cases of the flu that are surfacing right now are in fact H1N1. (Don’t quote me on that, however.)

I suppose I should go to the doctor, but what’s the point? The most I could hope for is a dose of Tamiflu and at this point, I’m not sure if it would really help. I’m just going to ride out this awful, awful storm. Now, you may be wondering what this flu experience is like. Here’s my personal experience with this mystery respiratory ailment:

On Monday night of this week, I started feeling chilly at the office. My coworkers reassured me that it was cold inside, I wasn’t getting sick, etc. But I felt like something was not quite right. I made it to work on Tuesday and  continued to worsen, but still wasn’t all that bad. It was raining pretty hard that night and I returned to my apartment soaking wet. After drying myself off, I collapsed into bed. By the next morning, Wednesday, I could hardly get out of bed. I was so sore, my chest was heaving and wheezing, and I was having trouble breathing. My tonsils were swollen and were collecting tonsil stones, which added to my sore throat. I hadn’t had this tonsil problem in probably a year. In short, I could barely make it the few feet across my quasi-loft apartment to contact my colleagues, much less go to work.

I’ve read unsubstantiated rumors that H1N1 attacks the lungs first, versus the upper respiratory tract as in most ailments. That seems to jive with my experience, as I’ve never heard my lungs wheeze like that before. It also theoretically  would make it pretty dangerous for people with athsma. The CDC advises people with lung problems to be cautious and seek help immediately if they come down with flu-like symptoms.

Anyway, I rode out Wednesday night and felt hungry, so I went out for a quick dinner and drinks (one alcoholic, two cranberry virgin). I felt fine, and thought the worst was over, but felt like collapsing as I walked across the street to my complex. That night was the worst of the worst, as I shivered nonstop for about eight hours. Thursday settled down a bit but I had no food or good drinks in my fridge, so I summoned the energy to go shopping that night. I made it back without too much trouble, but was pretty much a rock. On Friday, I decided that I would just take the day off and then ride out the weekend.

Unfortunately, my coworkers alerted me to the fact that Friday was also the deadline for health benefits election. This time, it was mandatory, no skirting, no exceptions. So I summoned my last reserve of energy and slowly trudged to work to do my benefits election. It became clear that I was not capable of making it through a full day of work. I had a terrible coughing fit and almost thought I might have a fit of vomiting. I calmed my queasy stomach and downed as much water as I could, and blew my nose and coughed until things settled down. Then I finished the deed on my computer, e-mailed myself some crucial notes and got the Dickens out of there. I thought it ironic that I had to put my health and others’ health at risk in order to get health benefits. Life is funny that way.

I’ve retraced my steps for the past week, trying to ascertain when I was exposed. I was around a lot of crowds the past weekend and could have theoretically picked something up at that time, but none of my compadres who I hung out with last weekend are feeling the way that I do. Thank God for that. So how did I get so sick? Hard to say, but I’ll be happy to have some semblance of immunity if I make it through this unscathed.

My consolation is that symptoms should be improving starting on days 4 and 5, namely this weekend. I doubt that I’ll be able to join friends and colleagues in partying it up, but hopefully things will be a bit more comfortable. Which is good, because I miss drinking beer and not having such a remarkably short fuse.

Did I mention the mood swings? I have felt horrible both physically and mentally. I am the kind of person that likes to live life to the fullest (yes) and to be in this kind of shape is torturous and causes my thoughts to drift in unhappy directions. I’m trying to think about joyous things, like looking over my vacation photos and planning future trips abroad. Anything to get my head in the clouds and out of the dumps. I’m certain that by the time I am better, I will be a new woman and I will be prepared to take the world by storm. Until then, I wait.

And there you have it. I have once again bared my soul, and perhaps shared too much about my innermost feelings, and I will probably apologize for something I wrote here. But hey, at least it’s cathartic. See you on the other side of the dark side of the moon, world.

Organization calls

There are times that I clearly feel like life is telling me something, and now is one of those times. I’ve been told over and over again that I’m disorganized, I need to grow up, whatever. And the fact is, that I truly do need to become a more organized person. It’s finally catching up to me as my work becomes ever more complex and I get older and life just gets complicated in general. I’ve tried and failed many times but I feel like if I can make an effort now, in time I will finally be successful.

I’ve had some degree of success already. After months and months of working and working at it, I finally got my eating and exercise habits under relative control. I’m finally starting to see some results from that effort, both in my physical stamina and the fact that I’m comfortably wearing jeans today that I couldn’t wear a few months ago. I’m no longer craving ridiculous portions of food and things are generally OK.

And now, I realize that if I am ever to advance in this life and successfully become who I want to be, organization is basically my only choice. Drawing on my health habits for inspiration, I am going to make an effort to fix my problems and take control of things.

Starting now, I commit myself to do the following things every day:

• Spend about 30 minutes per evening reading the news
• Keep a journal and know what I’m doing the next day
• Read 5 pages of literature per day
• Keep my laptop closed from midnight to 6 a.m.
• Shower before bed rather than in the morning
• Have clothes, bags, etc., planned out before sleeping
• Have two alarms set to wake me in the morning
• Write in my blog every day if possible
• Work on something creative
• Give work my undivided attention
• Do something to expand my skills EVERY day
• Ask people lots of questions, which I often forget to do

It’s going to be difficult, but I must slay this monster within me. I must take control of my life.

Fall is here. Now to figure out a costume.

Hard-knock life

Originally uploaded by N-Sai

The weekend before this current one, I went with coworkers to a corn maze in North Georgia. We had to go through and find the photos of pumpkins. If we matched all the pictures to the pictures on the cards we were given at the start, indicated by writing down the name of the pumpkin, we could get ice cream at the end. The maze itself was easily exited, but we did have to go through and find the things. And, you know, get into the fall spirit. Another thing we did was take pictures of kittens and cats a-go-go, such as the one in the photo. The kittens were very tiny and the mother had an eye problem. Still cute.

We also saw some falls for the fall in the Tallulah Gorge state park. I read that it was at one point a top tourist attraction in the South. The visitor center was nice, as was the view and the nice almost-changed leaf-peeping experience. We didn’t find much to eat, however, and went back to the ATL to fill our famished bellies, exhausted from climbing all those freaking stairs down to see the suspension bridge and the water.

Now I’m mulling my Halloween plans (more travel? I must be nutzy) and what I’m going to costume myself as. I posted a bunch of themes on Facebook and have even more now: some kind of two-party political thing with donkey and elephant parts, Mod Squad, Clockwork Orange, lolcat, fairy with giant wins, tooth fairy, The Economy, modernist art, postmodernism, a hippie, Michael jackson, Kanye West, Balloon Girl, Internet Meme-a-palooza (crasher squirrel, Kanye, lolcats, you name it), a computer, an iPhone, a Google phone, the Twitter bird, a fail whale, a scrabble board, a keyboard, a social network, something from Alice in Wonderland, omg I don’t even know what I could be. Mom even suggested the Mona Lisa and I was intrigued at what could be done with that. There is no limit to my imagination, only to my artistic abilities and wherewithal.

The trouble with New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year and welcome to 2009! Yay!

Look, I dunno what it is, but New Year’s Eve is the most problematic holiday ever. I would like to strike this day from the calendar, because rarely has any good come of it for me. (2007/8 being a rare exception to that rule!) I take it I’m not alone in that feeling, because others have expressed similar sentiments.

So, what happened over New Year’s Eve this year, you ask? I hope yours was better than mine… I worked that night, which honestly was the best part of the night. Kathy Griffin cracked me up, particularly with her highly inappropriate comment about our man Sanjay. I tried to make it a little more festive by wearing an ornamental hat and having an embarrassing Sock Monkey drop witnessed by a whopping one other coworker who was unlucky enough to be walking by on the way OUT THE DOOR (see my flickr for the shameful “after” pic).

But it was downhill from there. I had assumed I could take MARTA home but I left work about 30 minutes too late and got snagged. I live like 2 miles from work but couldn’t get a decent cab ride. There were people prowling the streets and piling up in hotel motor pool areas trying to mob any cab coming nearby. I’ve never seen such a thing. MARTA used to run 24 hours on NYE, but I guess times are a-changing. As luck would have it, I saw two guys get into the back of a cab and I immediately jumped in with them. It was a pretty desperate move. They were going a few blocks from my apartment, so I rode with them and continued on to my destination. The fare came out to $9, which wasn’t bad, considering, and that’s only because I was being generous in contributing to the guys’ fare. They totally stiffed the driver and gave him $11 (including my $4 contribution) instead of $12, and no tip. Dang college kids. And then I got home and heated up my delicious flatbread from Urban Flats (or tried to) and started opening up a bottle of Sangria. As I broke the seal (on the bottle), the entirety of midtown went dark. The power was out! And so was my Internet for the next day or so. As soon as the lights shut off, the generators started kicking in around town and pretty soon it sounded like a helicopter was hovering over my apartment. Good times. So I finally fell asleep around 6 a.m. and then stumbled in to work the next day around 1 p.m. The end.   

Well I mean, I talked to several other folks and they all indicated that letting your expectations get up too high is problematic on this troublesome holiday. A few had mishaps occur. Some didn’t even try to have fun, saying they always find it disappointing. What is it about New Year’s? Is it the fact that it’s not a “regular” night and thus it’s hard to get people together because they have something *better* to do which isn’t really better at all? That’s what I’ve always thought. It’s time someone did something about that. And of course a few people had a blast, but we don’t like them, do we?

25 (or more) things to do in PHX and ATL (done and not done)

Here’s a rundown of 25 fun things I’ve done in Phoenix. I have started this way to get the creative juices flowing, outing-wise, and I’ll be throwing in Atlanta next and THEN will get into the things I’d like to do.

Stroll the Heard Museum or the art museum

Visit the Botanical Garden

Visit the zoo

Ride the light rail

Walk through Steele Park

Eat Mexican food

Go to Wildlife World Zoo

Take a historic house tour

Browse old-town Scottsdale

Grab a tea at Tempe Marketplace

See a ballet or performance at Symphony Hall

See a performance at ASU (or browse the art museum)

Have Japanese food fire-grilled in front of you at Ah-So

Stroll by the side of Tempe Town Lake (and catch a concert there or get a gelato)

Dance at one of the Mill or Scottsdale clubs

Grab a daiquiri at Fat Tuesday’s

Go to a ballgame at a field or arena

Hike at one of the mountain parks (North Mountain or Squaw Peak)

Visit Lake Pleasant or Woods Canyon Lake

Browse the Biltmore Fashion Park or Scottsdale Fashion Square

See a movie at the Cine Capri (in the BIG theater)

See a show at the Orpheum

Go to the Arizona Science Center or history museum; heritage square in general

Browse the Burton Barr library

Browse Encanto Park and kiddieland

Attend a marching band festival

Go to Organ Stop Pizza and eat, well, pizza

Gawk at the funky sculptures in downtown Mesa

Ride the roller coaster at Castles & Coasters

Hall of Flame

World’s tallest fountain (Fountain Hills)

Rawhide

Indian Casinos

See a show at the Valley Art Theater or the Camelview theater

And here is 25 things I’ve done in Atlanta:

Attend a show at the Shakespeare theater thingy

Wander the Atlanta Botanical Garden/Piedmont Park

Visit Zoo Atlanta and wave at the panda

Walk through Grant Park

Georgia Aquarium, Coke Museum

Ride MARTA around town

See an Improv show at Dad’s Garage

See a local play or production

Traverse the establishments on Crescent Street

Wander Little Five Points and Candler Park

Visit a bar in the Virginia Highlands

Drive along the edge of Lake Lanier

Stroll through Oakland Cemetery

Eat dinner at South City Kitchen

Grab a delicious hamburger at the Vortex or Five Guys

Stone Mountain

Six Flags

Visit Criminal Records and see a performance

Attend a sporting event

Wander around Emory University

Eat at Sundial

See the Big Chicken

Visit Discover Mills/Medieval Times

Luckie Lounge

CNN Center

The Varsity

See the breakdancers at MJQ

Grab a drink at the Trader Vic’s in the Hilton

Drink beer at the Brick Store pub

Whirlyball in Marietta

See a show at the Tabernacle

See a movie at the Plaza Theater

Go to the Atlanta Puppet Theater

Here are 25 things I’d LIKE TO DO in PHX

Taliesin West

Arcosanti

Modified Arts

Browse Stinkweeds

See a show at the Marquee

Visit the Roosevelt

First Fridays

Eat at Casey Moore’s

Visit the revived Gold Bar

Find some more awesome Mexican food

See a piano duel at the Big Bang

Visit the new Cafe Boa

Eat at Matt’s Big Breakfast

Chicken and waffles

See if Pizza Bianco lives up to the hype

Heart Attack Grill

Police Museum

Mystery Castle

Find the chopper crash memorial in Steele Park

See the “Mofles Museum”

Visit the rock & mineral museum

Melted Weapons sculpture

Hunt’s Tomb

Louis Lee’s Rock Garden

Metal Corral in Anthem

And here are 25 things I’d LIKE TO DO in ATL

Check out Loca Luna and the Tongue & Groove

Get into Opera for once

Do the art walk

See a show at the EARL

Eat at Parish

Go to the DeKalb Farmers Market

Take a dance class at the studio in Decatur

Take a historic homes tour

Eat a Ghetto Burger

Visit the Clermont Lounge (heh heh)

Trivia Night at Manuel’s

Yellow River Game Ranch (near Stone Mountain) or the Kangaroo Conservation Center (Dawsonville)

Go to the Atlanta History Center

Go to the Natural History museum… the one on Clifton…

Walk through East Atlanta in general

Taqueria del Sol

Spend some time at Lake Lanier

Visit the Hooch somewhere

Chastain Park amphitheater

See a show at the Fox Theater

Go to the Fish Market and see the giant fish

Go to that Blue Line cafe or whatever it’s called where they cook your food on rocks

Dante’s Down the Hatch

Track down Lord Dooley at Emory

See the White House replica

Waffle House museum

Kennesaw State University and the Spaceship Earth sculpture

Segway tours

Gingerbread Party (it’s a holiday thing, can do in 2009)

Kraftwork craft session

Eat at Papi’s

Margaret Mitchell House

Dialog in the Dark

Museum of Contemporary Art GA

Mall of Georgia

Buford restaurants

Korean karaoke

Karaoke in general (well I’ve done a little)

Hang out in Marietta Square

See a show at the Variety Playhouse and Seven Stage

Ballin’ it up

Find out how much TRAFFIC I am getting.

Ho ho ho, merry Christmas. Exciting news from 57channel.net. Well, sort of.

I got written up in a French blog as one of “les stars de Twitter” on a French blog. My guess is, based on the text, he is saying that I have a high page rank according to Google despite having only a few followers. I’m not sure, but he might be saying that Twitter is helping my page rank. So yeah, I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it sure is cool!

In other exciting news, I spotted a huge traffic spike on my page on November 27 and couldn’t figure out what the deal was… and then I looked again and realized that everyone is looking for a certain Thanksgiving picture showing a certain Sesame Street bird on a certain dinner table… so yeah, it was pretty crazy to see that my page was a source for that and that there was so much interest in it.

So keep helping me up that page rank! Yeah!

Looking back on 2008

Too high

Originally uploaded by N-Sai

The Year that Was was certainly an interesting one. Submitted for evidence:

* Snow in January
* Bought my new MacBook, which was my first-ever Apple purchase
* Major tornado sweeps us up during our Pi Day party, March 14
* My 25th birthday
* Travel to Vancouver in June, where I met my grandmother and aunt for the first time ever
* Rainn Wilson, you know, Dwight Schrute, in the newsroom in the middle of July
* Went to San Diego in August and gawked at seals. We stayed at a beachside hotel, which was fun. It would be the first of two trips to California this year (and in a couple of months).
* Moved twice, first to a cockroach-infested studio on the lowest floor of a high-rise (I’m told that’s been fixed, but it’s by the trash chute) and then to a lovely but expensive place a few blocks away.
* Got my first credit card and went through a bunch of snafus with my utilities and lost a lot of money, but I’m earning it back.
* In October, I visited New York for the presidential debate at Hofstra University and then went to the JMMF reunion in Beverly Hills, where we ran into Kato. That Kato.
* Learned to edit videos in Final Cut and got promoted at work, which was cool.
* In November, I voted in a historic election and got a peachy sticker
* In December, I traveled to Arizona twice and did numerous “year in reviews” including this one and one for work.

Whew! Busy!

Growing up

There came a turning point in my life when I realized I was growing up and there was no turning back. I used to wish that aliens from the planet Zeldar or some other thing from the infinite abyss of Outer Space would land on the earthly soil and jazz things up a little for the human population. As I got older, I started thinking, “You know, that sounds kinda dangerous.” And from then on, a full-scale extraterrestrial invasion wasn’t nearly so attractive to think about.

And now, I sit with my new Georgia driver’s license (transferred from Arizona) tucked safely in my wallet. I just got it today, and in record time thanks to the efficiency of the state’s “DDS” (not dentists) centers. Normally the DMV/MVD takes way way long, and you sit for extremely long periods of time moving your eyes between a scrap of paper printed with a cryptic letter and number and looking at the little LED signs above the booths that seem to hold the fate of the universe in their screens. You then let go for a while and listen to Robo-Woman of Doom announce the letters and numbers as you visually scan a room full of people who are scary as all heck and possibly are in there because of their vehicular violations. And then there’s the average folks and tons of teen drivers and their parents. (I did see an elderly lady come in that was hunched over and using a walker. She looked as if she could hardly direct her own body, much less a giant hunk of metal. I’m hoping she was accompanying someone else, but who knows.) So hurray for getting in and out of there in a half hour; they called my number so fast I barely got to finish my paperwork at each step before it was time to go on to the next one. And this is the South we’re talking about…

Now, sentimental sap that I am, I have strange feelings about my new card. The AZ license is gone now, and I’m glad I took a few pictures of it earlier before handing it over. It’s a marvel of beauty, with an image of the Grand Canyon in the background. I still have my learner’s permit with a hole punched in the top. But now I have a real license that reflects my current residence, and the picture actually resembles me this time. That’s a plus. Not that it’s currently much more than a piece of plastic at the moment, but it is now free of that pesky “UNDER 21, YOU GOON” notice that has dogged me for the last three over-21 years. And now, I can start moving forward with various plans that I’ve had in the wings for a while. More on that later.