Cool cat

OUC has a GLBTA student club, called the "Stray Cats." Since I don't have time to be involved, I consider myself a fan sitting on the sidelines just waiting for free time to pop up or for my schedule to magically rearrange itself as needed. I'm a MySpace friend, at least. Just a little while ago, I was reorganizing my Top Friends, and decided to move the Stray Cats up a bit. Their profile image is this:
I was looking at this, wondering, "Who made that sweet-ass cat?" So I dug deeper, and I found a "Stray Cats Logo by Karalea Lane" caption on the photo page. Let's just say I'm not surprised that it was created by the ever-talented Karalea. There's nothing cooler than a cat, unless it's a cat covered in messages of love and acceptance.

When Gracie develops the understanding and vocabulary for sexuality, I'm going to print this out and let her color it.

Real good folk

These are the peeps I'll be working with this fall. They're such a good bunch. We truly are a lovely bunch of coconuts. :)

Front row, left to right: Ashlee Daniels, Jennifer Slone, Karalea Lane.
Back row, left to right: Leona Mount, Regan Sowers, Denver Karshner, Sarah Cook.

There's this crazy band I like...

...That no one else I know does. It's quite disheartening, seeing how this particular band has recently stolen No. 2 from The Arcade Fire on my Last.fm Top Artists.

They're called "Aqueduct." Well, actually he's called "Aqueduct." It's just this dude, David Terry, who had a big musical crisis so he locked himself in his bedroom and recorded. Eventually, he came out of his hole, and he had a whole crapload of awesome music. According to a 2005 Rolling Stone article, he came up with the band name one day while driving. He said he'd been seeing signs about some big aqueduct that's keeping Southern California's desert alive. At that moment, he decided he wanted to produce his own music. And he did.

Eventually, he added band members in order to perform live. His music is like layers upon layers of vocals and varying instrumentations. It's very melancholy and morbid, but happy and preppy. It's definitely pop, but I'd also call it piano rock, electronica, or just plain old Indie rock. It's just good stuff. IMHO, of course. I haven't found a pal yet that likes them as much as I do. I was thinking today, if they ever came around again (they were in Athens some short time ago, but I missed out), I wouldn't have anyone to dance my butt off with at the show. So, it is my goal to get people to like them. Here's how I'm going to do it:

First, watch this video. Listen to the song.



Now, if that doesn't convince you, read the lyrics here. Read them and play the song at the same time, actually. That's the ticket.

If you still don't like the song, well, you probably won't like Aqueduct at all. There are differences between the first album (with "Growing Up With GNR"), "I Sold Gold," and the more recent "Or Give Me Death," but the sound is generally the same. It's hard for me to find an album I like beginning to end, but I can't stop listening to either of them. And just today, I found an old EP I didn't know about!

Man, am I on a blogging roll or what?! (Haha, blog roll...geek joke.) I can only attribute it to my new job in the Writing Center. The past two days, I've been in training, and next week I'll begin tutoring. So far, it's been fantastic. I'm really going to love this job. For the past two days, I've been writing! We've actually had writing assignments throughout the entire training! I couldn't imagine a more blissful job to have! (I know I'm using a lot of exclamation points, but it is warranted.) We're also required to partake in the OUC Writing Center Blog. I'm having a great time so far. And next week, my Fall Quarter classes begin, as well. Yay for getting back into the swing of things!

Keeping you posted...

I thought it might be time to give another medical update, since every time I run into someone I know, I end up telling this entire story anyways. Just like this morning, when I reached for a muffin the first morning of orientation for my new tutoring job, I had to explain why blueberry muffins were the only ones in the box I could have.

So, I'm still laden with the interstitial cystitis. For that, I received bladder installations with a "Rescue" solution. After a month and a half of that, it has been discontinued. Now, I'm just taking the oral medication Elmiron for two more months. Hopefully, this will build back up the lining of my bladder, which is in much disrepair. This is the disease that is also dictating my diet. It's easier to explain what I can eat: white flour products, bland meats, and dairy products. It's necessary that I avoid anything spicy, MSG, foods rich in potassium, and any and all condiments. No fun, but I've lost 20 pounds so far.

I've also got endometriosis, and I started the Lupron injections over a month ago. Just last Thursday, I received my second shot. Lupron is a chemotherapy drug that was first designed to treat patients with prostate cancer. Now, it's being used more and more often by doctors to reduce the size of lesions in patients with endometriosis. It will not necessarily remove the endometrial implants, but it will allow the disease to go into remission for up to five years. Because the injections are a hormonal treatment, the side-effects it creates is on par with menopause. Therefore, hot flashes, decreased libido, and emotional issues are common.

After my first shot, I noticed a few hot flashes. I also began experiencing headaches and nausea quite often. For the first two weeks, I had a ton of sexual energy. However, since my second shot last week, that has plateaued and started declining. I'm also feeling the effects of the chemotherapy more than I expected I would. The nausea and headaches are much worse and more frequent. I feel kind of like my brain is in a fog, and concentration has been a bit difficult. I can also see my memory slipping from time to time, which is also a popular side-effect. The worst part of the experience, though, by far, is the joint pain and the emotional disturbance. Lupron is known to deplete bone mass and increases the risk for Osteoporosis. Even adding a calcium supplement to my diet won't help. I'm starting to worry about the pain I'm having, but I don't think I have any options to decrease it. And the emotional issues are setting me back to my bipolar days, and I'm trying my best to hang on each and every day, despite the fact that I'm sad for no apparent reason. Adding a mild anti-depressant to my diet of pills might be an option I look into soon. Because my lesions are located near blood vessels, surgery is not an option for me. Looks like Lupron is the only thing that can help me right now.

So, there it is - the bad and the ugly. The good is that, hopefully, after another four-and-a-half months, I'll be pain-free and can move on with my life, happy and healthy.