3 Movies, 3 Days

Last Saturday I took Rev to see the new forklift movie. Then I got to show her the forklift archives, and I posed her for photos with forklifts so that she could show her mom.

On Sunday mrguy and I went to see the new Paul McCartney and Wings movie in a theater. Everybody in the theater was really old, and I felt younger than 50% of the audience and mrguy informed me that I was wrong about that. The pre-show music featured some of the worst Wings music ever made. You know how a Paul McCartney song starts out strong and then has a B part that is super squizzy? Those songs.

The movie itself was great. No repellent songs, because Morgan Neville has good taste. The film was more about the people than the music, I'd say. I didn't realize that Denny Laine was a stalwart of the Wings band while others came and went. There were cute animals. Mrguy is really moved by cute animals.

Then we grabbed felafel at the place across the street and went home. It was a perfect day.

On Monday, clamdip2020 and I went to see "Homecoming: the Tokyo Series" about Japan and baseball. What's not to like? We got there early, which allowed us time to go to the new huge Japanese supermarket. And then the movie. It was so good! It centered around specific games held in Tokyo, but told the stories of various people who follow baseball. Americans who came to Japan for the games, athletes who were born in Japan but playing for MLB teams, a mom and son who run a baseball program for little kids, a place where you can rehab your vintage mitt, a guy who is a hair stylist and also keeps a museum for one of the players. It was great. Highly recommended.

I've Been Missing, Sorta

I haven't blogged about Hawaii for various reasons, and when we came back I didn't feel like it. I've been doing things. Been busy.

The day after we came back from Hawaii, mrguy had to go in for his ambulatory EEG. They put electrodes on your head, lash it all down with webbing, and you walk around like that for two days while writing down the time and symptom description whenever you feel weird. I thought he looked adorable in the weird contraption, hence the photo.

The EEG checked out as ok / there is nothing wrong with his brain. But his new neurologist specializes in seizures, and that seems to be what's afoot. She thinks they are caused by the chemical load of his chemotherapy meds. She prescribed a mild anti-seizure medication, which immediately gave him his first migraine in 6 months. We're expecting side-effects, but this was a very un-fun one for mrguy.

Then he had a PET scan. It shows a possible recurrence. Or not? This one is in his esophagus and it's soft tissue. Could be inflammation. On followup with our oncologist he said he wasn't too concerned. Decided against an endoscopy, but then scheduled one. We know that the doctors were conferring in the background, so I have a feeling that someone else weighed in and advised the endoscopy after all. His clinical trial doctor, who he meets with periodically, was aware of the updates to mrguy's situation. Mrguy got to have one of his medications infused that week, but they didn't give him his anti-nausea drugs (which he never needs cause he's not nauseated ever) and gave him compazine, instead. He did great. No weirdness. Next week he "gets" to have the full chemo regimen. Hope it shrinks whatever it is in his genechtagazoink and I hope he is infused without incident.

In the meantime time marched on and I had a funeral of a workmate to go to. 

All the founders were there, and none of them brought their second wives, who were the *correct* wives but didn't really know the deceased so well. I kinda went into hostess mode, inviting my faves to the table where I was sitting and inadvertently but happily excluding the one OG who I've blocked on my phone and fb. It's possible that he didn't want to join us because there's an allegiance issue with one of the other founders who was not present at this event. Both feel butt hurt about how they left the forklift factory. The reason that I blocked him was that before the guy was laid off, I tried to find him work to do within our department, at his request. But (and this was a problem always) he didn't look at his calendar, visit his office often, respond to email or to voicemail. You could barely contact him, but then he'd mysteriously stop by your office from time to time. He lost his job in one of the big layoffs. Afterward, he was still a fb friend and one of my go-to people for historical information, so I'd reach out to ask questions. He'd promise gobs of information, but again never followed through. He was a tease. One day I posted a fb memory of mrguy and I in Hawaii. My former colleague saw it and commented that it was nice that I was in Hawaii when people like him were out of work. I pointed out to him that the memory was from 5 years earlier, when we all still worked together. Then I blocked him on every device. He could have found a job, and certainly had talents, but I think that he was so shocked from being canned that it wrecked him. I think that there was a part of him that assumed that his prior accomplishments would render him immune from harm. None of us is unexpendable, my man.

Eusa Kills

Yeah. So we dismantled a successful agreement with Iran because the Black President put it together. And then the Orange President bombed Iran, killing dozens of young girls. And Iran is lashing out at the countries around it. 

Don't we feel better now?

Eusa Kills

Vacation -- A Saturday

Ask me about Twix Head Spa. You can find their videos on YouTube. Also ASMR. And autism.

And now that you did, yesterday was rough. The murder of Alex Pretty happened. Multiple eyewitness videos documented the incident including, presumably, his own. That's the second ICE murder in Minneapolis in a week. It's easy to feel helpless in these times. Also guilty, because it's the first day of my vacation and we are going to Hawaii. But I located the scheduled protest locations in Honolulu, and am bringing cardboard and some markers in my suitcase.

I was too depressed to do much. I worked on my vacation list of things to do. Then I went to get a mani-pedi because I knew the result would make me feel more human. My usual place (the place where I've been a time or two) was busy so I picked a larger place that I'd never been to before. It was very nice.

I mostly like mani-pedis when they're over. There's the question of whether or not to interact with the stylist. There's the scrubbing of the bottom of the foot (I warned her that I might scream, and I clasped my face the whole time). Then there's trying to fiddle with your purse to pay without ruining the manicure.

All success! But it was a sensory extravaganza. There was soft female music playing. A song about a sweater that was polyester. And the world's longest ASMR video where they do things to a lady's head and hair. Endless, endless treatments. Steam, water, ointments, soaps, halo contraptions that are suspended over the hairline and shower you with tiny jets of whatever. Then the neck massage with a thin, smooth rock, and an arm massage. At one point I asked the manicurist if the treatment ever ends. I guess my expectation was that you'd dry off.

Occasionally she'd press a button on my chair and the uncomfortable lumps would move around on my back. Massage. I did try to lean into the experience, because you should.

As usual, I felt really good after the mani-pedi was over. But getting to that point is a sensory overload.

When I got home our dear friend was there. We hung out until late in the night (for us!). I fell asleep watching an autistic comedian and doing online tests about autism. She had me at clothing tags being too scratchy. Also I think her tone has affected the tone of this post. But I feel somewhat seen ; )

I woke up and told mrguy about the salon experience. It made him anxious. Maybe I'm making you anxious as well.

Is Minnesota the place where our next civil war will take place? I would not have guessed.