Friday, June 27, 2014

Week 3: Jeremy has a bad week

Happened sooner than I expected, but I finally had just a really, really bad week. There was bad news, there was stress of the real-life variety, there was trying to find answers to some really inconvenient questions, there was pain, and of course, That Movie. Got to pull myself up and keep going, though. Don't know how many of you are still here after The Week Jeremy Was Gone, but for those who stuck it out, I owe it to you and to myself to grit up and keep going. Sarah Connor style.

HEYYYYY CRAZY LADY! Sarah Connor style!

Yeah, I went there. Shut up, I'm having a bad week.

Today I'd like to talk about pain management. At my age people shouldn't have to know what that means, but of course I don't get to be so lucky. Until I moved to the city I lived a drug-free and drunk-free life; yeah, I had a beer or two, but if you want to sports and keep up your schoolwork you just don't have time for doing crap that could come back and hit you in the face. Buddy of mine got a suspension handed down, then the school decided it didn't want him playing, then the coach went and argued because he was the lynch pin of the first string, just tensions everywhere.

Point is, I'm not used to flying like a kite. Seems half my vocabulary, when I talk at least, has just been the word "fantastic" over and over again. I'm keeping to just the dosage I'm supposed to, but it turns out that pain meds have some pretty real side effects. Large parts of my day are spent either asleep or basically equivalent, just sort of chilling on codeine. Stuff is really potent when you've got no tolerance.

Unfortunately, of course, tolerance is a thing that builds up. I'm in a weird place right now where they help, but I just feel this sort of full-body throb that's raw, red and awful. Part of why I haven't been updating this week is because my right hand's just been royally fucked up with scar tissue from the surgery. I've got three fingers, a thumb, and this big crooked lump that's sort of in the middle of it all. I'll post a picture later from when they worked on it to show just what kind of friendly we're talking, but the gist is it's just this permanent swollen growl of pain.

Anyway. Enough about feeling like crap. Let's talk about the week that wasn't. I think last time I was going into Pirates of the Carribean. That was a fun little romp. High adventure, but just a bit too preoccupied with the dead pirate whatnots. Captain Jack Sparrow made my day; guy's wacky in the best of ways. Barbosa's an excellent match for his brand of humor. I'm told there are sequels and that there's a pretty good chance this week is going to be Sequel Week for some of the things I missed.

There was a one-two punch this week that probably made up a lot of my... what's the word... disspiritedness, let's say. First off, of course, Star Trek finally jumped off a cliff with Harry F. Mudd. Yes, I'll get back into the swing of it - there's too much good in it not to - but just goddamn, that level of extremely backward and pointless sexism. I'm cutting them a lot of slack already for it being so old, but there's a line, you know? As for the second punch, I think we all know what the second punch was.

 Anyway, I really don't want to talk about That Movie again. Instead I'll just gab about the other things. Lacy says some people are thinking my grandparents were strict or backward or evangelicals or any number of other weird things for me not having the Internet at home. I'm gonna just cut through all that now and remind you all they're old. My grandpa is nearly 90. My grandmother has had macular degeneration for the past 6-7 years. They had no real use for the Internet and I could get on for school uses in the library, which is also where they've got all the books. If you've ever been involved in atom, peewee, bantam hockey you know what sort of life I had timewise. When you wake up at the crack of dawn, what fills your nights is delicious delicious sleeeeeeeep.

My grandparents are lovely people, the best people. They're Catholic (I'm not a very good Catholic) but not hugely conservative. They've got people in their lives and lifelong hobbies that they excel at - our house has a full-size loom in the living room and a spinning wheel at the end of the hall, the basement's full of little tools and boat stuff, and it's probably a statement on how cheap new cars are that my grandpa's old blue Mazda is still going strong. By the way, don't use beaded seat covers, they're just not comfortable. Seriously, just the worst thing.

Point is, we're backward people and I love it. Don't get me wrong, I love living with a dishwasher now but there's something I miss from family time cleaning up together after dinner. A lot of conversation happened over the sink, just because you had other things to do between grace and pie. You don't need to be uptight or strict or some sort of wacky Luddite to not get new things; I figure they just looked at the life we all had, shrugged and said "why bother?" It's not like I didn't get exposure to modern tech from my uncles - both engineers and huge geeks besides. My younger cousin is growing up with Mine Craft, which is her favorite game. I grew up with a backyard, a boat, early morning porridge, skates, and the thrumm of a spinning wheel. I know how to play cribbige and tarbish. I had some great old movies for entertainment when I had to stay indoors and room to run around outside when it was nice out. I don't think, even now, that there's anything else I would have asked for.

So I've gotten completely off topic. Where was I? Oh right. The bad news. It wasn't much of a surprise, of course, but I was in for checks on how everything's setting and the doctors were pretty clear. They're confident I'll be walking again, but, well... you all already know. I already knew. Doesn't make it any easier to hear.

I'll probably never play sports again.

In time, with good recovery, jogging might be possible, but contact sports are out. I could take up curling, or, you know, golf, and I do like curling, but it's so not even close to anything I'm passionate about that I don't see how you can categorize it with the same word. Folks, it just hurts. It hurts to have already known that and then to just hear it confirmed, like any chance is gone. The settlement accounted for a lot, but you can't put a price on taking away part of me as a person. It hurts to know that I really am no more than a guy who can watch now.

Anyway, this has been Jeremy's Really Depressing Weekly Update. Let's turn this sucker around in the coming week, eh? Looking forward to getting up out of this whole funk and moving forward.

24 comments:

  1. For what it's worth, lotsa vibes coming your way.
    GP

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  2. 1. Grew up internet free but eventually got degrees in networking so I know both. The backyard n boat are better. By far. I recently cancelled my internet service, got my daughters (13 and 10) out to the lake. Oldest said she didnt realize how boring net is compared to going out and doing. (And yes you will be back out n about too :-) ).

    2. You have to delay sequel week. First Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Seriously.

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  3. After that joke, you *have* to watch Big Trouble in Little China, if only so I can then show you the David Lo Pan Style video and have it make sense.

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  4. You guys totally need to set up a PayPal donations accounts. I WANT TO BUY PIZZA FOR JEREMY!!

    In the meantime, hang in there! Life is full of speed bumps, detours, and unexpected changes. But in the end it's what you make of it. As a friend of mine recently said, when life gives you lemons, add ice and vodka :P

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    1. -> we were considering it, actually, since a few people have been asking, but Paypal says their donation button is for real charities and nonprofits and the like and we just didn't think Jeremy's Pizza Fund fit the ticket :S

      If anyone knows another trustworthy service that might work, though, email me to let me know. ^_^

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    2. A Kickstarter might work, not for "Jeremy's Pizza Fund" obviously but just to fund this blog, which after all does provide plenty of entertaining content. Keep the goal modest and I'm sure you could reach it.

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    3. Patreon! I think that'd be perfect for what you're doing. You're contributing entertaining public posts to the world, and people can say, "Yeah, I'll contribute 25 cents for that," or whatever. Very low-key; no big funding goals; people only pay after you post something, and can opt out at any time for any reason.

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  5. Since you're pretty new to internet itself along with geekdom, there's a vital info you should know:
    Internet is full of dumbfucks who you shouldn't spare a moment of consideration or a smidge of a thought for. Read comments on random youtube videos to see just how much humanity sucks in general. They make up about 70% of everything on internet. You should ignore them.

    You're also not obligated to write this stuff. You're doing good and you obviously want to write more, and there's demand for it. But there's no deadline or quota you need to fulfill. You're not getting paid for this (though you might someday, you can't imagine how many weirdass ways to live off of doing things on internet has been discovered by various people, and your stuff is cool).

    Lastly, get on with Monty Python's Flying Circus soon as you're ready to go. It's the best thing ever.

    -Anonyman

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  6. I can't imagine what kind of pain you're going through, and I'm sorry you have to go through it at all. Hope that you recover soon, both physically and emotionally.

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  7. Just wanted to say I enjoy checking this every other day to see which movie you watched and I hope you have fast, speedy recovery and may the force be with you.

    P.S. lean on your friends they seem to be pretty good ones

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  8. Monty Python movies and tv shows are, in fact, much better while on mind altering substances. So watch them while you are all drugged up and you'll be in the proper mind set anyway!

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  9. Wishing you all the best Jeremy. If this blog is any example, you have some impressive talents which you should be proud of. Take care of yourself, but look forward to reading your next review!

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  10. I just found your blog tonight and I've been tearing through it for hours straight. Thank you so much for sharing this adventure, it's a really great ride!

    However, as much as I'm enjoying seeing your reactions as you watch some of my favorite films, I've got to say that your weekly recaps are my favorite posts. These are the posts where you give us a glimpse into your life. Thank you for that.

    I'm very happy that you are recovering, but sincerely saddened to know that your accident is costing something that you value so highly. I wish you all of the best, moving forward.

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  11. Thanks for sharing a bit of your Secret Origin with us, Jeremy.

    If it's any consolation, there was once a young man named George Lucas who had time for nothing but action and fast cars until he had a horrible accident. During his recuperation, he caught up on popular culture and what we now call Modern Myth. Sound familiar?

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    1. Not only that, but Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, was badly injured in a car accident in the last days of production of the original Star Wars movie, and he required reconstructive surgery to his face. This is why he looks noticeably different in Empire, and possibly why they included the wampa attack at the beginning of the movie.

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  12. Mudd's Women is probably the worst episode of Star Trek as far as sexism goes. At least you won't run into anything worse than that.

    And if I may make a recommendation for the first books on your list, I'd suggest The Hobbit, followed by The Lord of the Rings. As a fantasy gamer, you should note that these are the greatest source of inspiration for the modern fantasy genre in general and for D&D in particular. Every fantasy rpg practically owes its existence to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien in some way or another.

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    1. I dunno, Turnabout Intruder might be worse.

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    2. Good point. Although at least Turnabout Intruder has the excuse that it was written long after most of the original production team had taken their talent elsewhere and we were left with crap.

      The implication that women can't command starships is in contradiction to earlier episodes like "The Menagerie" aand "The Enterprise Incident," for one.

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  13. Do what you need to do to keep going. If this helps, keep doing it and we'll be here for that. If not, that's cool too.

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  14. Sucks that youre out of your favorite sport but you also mentioned growing up with a boat. As soon as you're fit (or maybe even before) find a crew and look into competetive sailing. The Black Puck! (Pearl) ;-)

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  15. Very sorry to hear this, Jeremy. I know the condolences of strangers on the internet mean next to nothing, but you have them anyway. Perhaps there's at least some silver lining in that this happened to you so early in life? A lot of great talents and outright geniuses were shaping up as sportsmen before serious injury drove them down a more academic or artistic path. I know that's probably small consolation.

    On a lighter note, while obviously you should watch the PotC sequels if you really want to, they're not that great. They're OK. You have sooooooo many other great movies on your list, I'd make them low priority.

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    1. Oh, and it's nice to see that the upcoming list has some classic comedies on it. And Rocky. Rocky will probably be the perfect movie for you to watch right now. Or maybe not, I don't know.

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    2. Sorry to hear the news, buddy. You should know that you're probably the kind of person who will flourish in life no matter what he does, and that what you do now brings joy and insight to a lot of people over their most valued cultural icons. You're not alone, and you're appreciated. Please keep going. We've all got your back.

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