As far as I know,Recognizing anniversaries is something humans have done since the distribution of calendars. Even the people who would make notches for each sunset were counting day, but without necessarily understanding when the began. If I were making notches gor each day, it would be 2190 sunsets since my stroke. I’ve learned so much about myself, my grit, my family, and my friends over the past 6 years. I’ve been sober for all 6 years; in my past life, I drank a lot, In hindsight it masked symptoms that might’ve prompted me to seek answers from a Doctor. I often wonder what treatment a doctorI would suggest. Had having a vascular surgeon opene up my skull to “fix” the bleed, And what damage could’ve been risked by undergoing such a procedure, even prescriptions for blood pressure.I once even joked about high blood pressure when a mosquito bite led to excessive bleeding down my leg only a week before the stroke. Absolutely everything changed that day. My dream job went away. The rented home of dreams. I even lost a few friends, and especially my life of independence, comfort, pride,and even some friends I haven’t seen, or consistently heard from for 6 long years pride; all lost or forever altered. The only thing gained in these past years have been a set of friends I’ve made in physical, occupational, and speech therapists and the caregivers, and fellow patients I’ve crossed paths eith. People that if I’d met them under other circumstances I’d be a better person having them as friends.
On Social Distancing
Long before the plague came around, I was practicing Social distancing. I can’t think of any gentle.This isn’t easy for me to share. Even now as I click ‘Post’, I have my doubts of whether to share it.
For much of my 30s, I have struggled with very bad breath; not the kind in conjunction with particularly savory food; even curiously strong altoids or gum, even midday tooth brushing only paused the odor momentarily covering the bad breath. Maybe it’s hereditary, or just years of poor dental hygiene but I have always struggled with my teeth. I had abscessed teeth, cracked, infected gums fractured, and missing teeth; a few lost in falls or other traumas. Though teeth may have cracked or been lost in falls or other traumas.
Knowing that bad breath is at the top of the list of things that change relationship dynamics, I would keep some special people I kept at literal arm's length distance from romance, and even friendships. What kept me from getting it taken care of? In a word: Shame. Some fear too. I once wen to a dentist and his recommendation was basically extracting most of my remaining teeth with a significant price tag on each one. Without any remaining pride, I decided upon returning to Oregon, that I would start going to a dentist. On my first visit, the x-rays showed a number of “root tips” where I’d lost teeth, the visible teeth were gone, but the left behind pieces of the tooth roots attached to the jaw. Left behind to decay, and yes, cause odor. I haven’t regained a fresh mouth, but , I had the root tips taken out by an oral surgeon, and now I’m one of those people, who used to bother me because they looked forward to their next check-up and cleaning. It feels good on this side of that poor dental health, and to looking forward to my next appointment.
On Neuroplasticity
I wish I’d seen this or known Mike in those early days when I thought getting out of the hospital seemed superhuman
A Media Diet
It wasn’t long ago that, while watching something on Hulu (“The OC”, “Seinfeld”, or ER), that I was introduced to the fact that one of my favorite movies had been adapted into a Series on Hulu. This sort of thing is rarely a good thing, but I was intrigued enough to check it out. It’s an interesting tweak to the original material, which is a book by the same title by Nick Hornby, whose books have inspired movies sub par to the books; “Fever Pitch”, About a Boy” In the movie version of “High Fidelity”, there’s a recurring theme of top 5 lists. The main Character Barry, portrayed by John Cusack says, “What really matters is what you like, not what you’re like. I think that’s pretty true, and in light of that, let me tell you about some things that I’ve been liking, which might give more insight into what I’m like these last few years.
This sequestration/quarantine time may be as good a time as any to use that concept as a prompt to fill in a media diet like this one given to me recently after rattling through the three most commonly asked questions I’ve been asked outside of medical-based questions
What are you listening to?
These days this question could be music, podcasts, radio, or all of the aboveI used to be known somewhat for my music blogging. It trailed off around 2009 when I became a Twitter power-user, but lately as it’s such a common question, I’ve thought maybe I should get back to it, if for no other reason than to try to persuade you, the reader to widen your musical spectrum, and/or to get you to adopt my favorites to be your favorites
Lately I’ve been using two methods to broaden my perspective
Deep dives into genres that I’ve either avoided or lack a broad knowledge of. So far I’ve explored hip-hop, country, pop music, and punk-rock. Each involved finding the roots of the genre and tracing the development to modern incantations.
Deep dives into artists that I don’t have much depth in my understanding of their catalog. As I’ve built out my library of a given artist’s portfolio, I create a smart playlist for all of their songs, shuffle them up and press play. I took a snapshot of some recent artist playlists I’ve used the described technique to get to know their catalog with more depth. I’
ve also challenged myself to use as few characters possible to name the playlist . i.e. Reznor would include all Nine Inch Nails, but also all his non-NiN work including his Oscar winning music from “The Social Network”
What are you watching?
What are you reading?
Disclosure; my sight has been significantly damaged with my brain injury, so reading has mostly been through audiobooks, which , while perhaps may be seen as lazy. But , look . . Before the injury, I was reading frequently on Kindle, so I’ve been away from paper books for years. Audiobooks can: Every year for the last decade I’ve read Gatsby at least once. With the right narrator, it’s an incredible experience to have. As You may notice, I like memoirs, biographies and historicals With the right narrator, it’s an incredible experience to have.
I used to read The Great Gatsby every year. One of my favorites, there’s a great audio version narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal.
The Brothers K by David James Duncan. My favorite book.favorite
So, that said, recent “reads” with recommended “narrators” As available on Audible
So Here's the Thing...: Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut
Written and read by Alyssa Mastromonaco
Gabby
Written by Rep.Gabby Giffords & Mark Kelly (part memoir/ part biography)
Read by Mark Kelly.
Gabby has been an inspiration as a fellow brain injury survivor who continues her journey to return to a fulfilling life after surviving a notorious TBI by gunshot
Becoming - written and read by Michelle Obama
My Life Written and read by Bill Clinton
1776 written and read by David McCullough
Talking to Strangers
Written and read by Malcolm Gladwell
Eyes to the Wind: A memoir Written by Ady Barkan Read by Bradley Whitford!
