pricciar

I bought Jasper Fforde's First Among Sequels the other day from Barnes and Nobel when I saw it on the discount table for 3 bucks. A long time ago I read The Eyre Affair and enjoyed it. I don't remember anything about it other than the fact that I enjoyed it. Has anyone out there read First Among? Is it ok to read it without the background of remembering the first book, or the other books in between? Is it any good?

Hi July.

Well, mandy_moon made me realize that I was subconsciously aching to post here. So, here I am.

Been doing some research on desks, and furniture and stuff like that because eventually I will be switching rooms and I want to set up a real live desk, instead of using the laptop all of the time. Anyway, in the process I have seen some really neat things. I even bought a book from the 70s about nomadic furniture. You can tell the book is from the 70s because. Well you can tell the book is from the 70s by the copy right notice. But, another way you can tell is the fact that one of the projects they have is how to build a child's car seat out of card board. I don't have a child, nor do I think it is legal to haul some kid around in a cardboard seat. I won't be making that car seat. But, I did like some of the other ideas. Just to see what it was like I did make a table base out of a cardboard box I was going to put into recycling. The book claims it can hold up to 400 lbs. I have it holding far less than that. It's still pretty neat. When I do it next time I will use something other than scissors. Box cutters, I guess? Plus, be more careful. Cuts hurt!

I'm probably just going to get some easy stuff from Ikea. It won't be a premade desk, but I doubt I will do any serious carpentry. Maybe I'll get a counter top and somehow attach it to file cabinets or something. But, if I did do carpentry I saw an extremely cool desk involving mortise and tenon joints. That's the kind of thing I would love to be able to make. This kind of carpentry does not involve glue or nails at all. You fit things together like Legos. If I ever come up with a project I will be doing something like that. It's neat.

I have been enjoying Twitter more than I thought I would. The only thing that bothers me is some jerk in Italy has my name and never even posts to it. I guess if I knew Italian I could write him and ask if he would be willing to give up his name. But, why would he be? He did get there first. Still. I think of ME as pricciar. Not some stranger. Anyway, it's fun to read the dumb funny stuff celebrities say. And, once in a while I say something funny, too. Well, I laugh at least.

I am housesitting in a couple of weeks. It should be fun. It invovles walking a dog and using a swimming pool. That's not a bad thing, I don't think. Hopefully not, at least.

I have seen a lot of really fun movies lately. Let's go through some of them.
I truly loved Scott Pilgrim vs The World. It was a movie worth the hype on all levels. Great music, great cinematography and great acting. I saw that on DVD.
Another comic book movie. This time on Netflix instant streaming was Kick-Ass. Incredibly good. The little girl in that was pretty much perfect. And, it was a fun story over all, as well.
Kick-Ass made me want to see X-Men:First Class, since they share a director. Well worth it. I wasn't super enthused about this movie when I first heard about it. I mean, X-Men 3 was so bad that I thought they would be better off just scrapping the whole thing and making a Strawberry Shortcake movie. But, when I heard Vaughan was the director my interest level started to rise. And, he did not let me down. Excellent comic book movie that also was able to do a good job portraying the 60s.
Bridesmaids wasn't just a funny comedy. I thought it was an actual good movie with a beginning middle and an ending. You know how some comedies sort of peter out, like they didn't know where to go with the outrageous idea? Bridesmaids doesn't do that. Good all the way through.

My friend from high school is performing at a bar downtown while I am housesitting. Hopefully, I will get the energy up enough to head out to go there. I've heard the CD and it is pretty awesome. He's been at different bars a couple of times, and I have never made it. Hopefully, this time I will be there.

I hope Google+ becomes a thing. I don't really care that much for Facebook. But, there are a lot of people on there that I like to keep in touch with. It would be great if a large number of them could switch over. I doubt all of my extended family will ever make the switch. So, I'm stuck with Facebook for awhile. But, if Google+ becomes a fun place I would not complain. Plus, maybe it will make Facebook stop trying to bring the world back into the bad old days of AOL.

Oh. I really liked The Killing, until the last five minutes of the last episode. But, other than that it was a really well made fun to watch tv show. I couldn't figure out why people were calling it boring, but I also couldn't figure out why people were comparing it to Twin Peaks (other than geographic similarities.) Anyway. Great acting, some good writing, combined for a good show.

Haven't been reading much lately aside from a new stack of comic books. I do have a library card now, though. So, I guess I should fix that. OH! But, I did find the joy of comedy podcasts. I really like Mike and Tom eat snacks. If you have a need to listen to something funny look around for that.

Happy Pink Heart Birthday to that Egyptologist daisy_petals!

I haven't been updating here lately, so I thought I would post this. I put it on Facebook first, and now here. It's my favorite songs from the past year. I'll try to embed them, if I screw up I am sure you will be able to figure it all out. I didn't listen to a ton this year, but I really do like these songs. So, I guess it was quality over quantity.

As far as how or what I am doing. I am ok. Haven't been feeling well lately, but better than I had been before that. Will be in Pihlly for a while longer. And, constantly finding new fun things to do here. I actually even do some of them, others I let pass by. Dealing with the cold by using scarves and hats like other humans, but haven't tried Human Growth Hormone, which I hear works wonders. I heard Cookie Monster was on SNL this week, but I haven't seen it yet. Looking forward to seeing the Fighter and True Grit. I am almost finished christmas shopping. And, I think after Christmas I might buy myself Mass Effect 2 for PS3 if it can go down in price low enough.


Now here's the top 11 songs of 2010. Most of these songs sound exactly the same. Oh well.

1. Divine Comedy - At The Indie Disco

I know I am copying John. But, it is a wonderful song that is able to sound new and nostaligic at the same time. Fun references and fun sound. I can listen to it again and again.
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2. Josh Ritter - Change of Time

I hadn't heard Josh Ritter until I visited my cousin this year. I confused him with Josh Groban. This Josh is better. And, this song is especially good. I love how I had a dream last night gets emphasized. It's as much hearing a song as it is hearing a poem recited.
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3. Summer Fiction - Chandeliers

Ok. This song isn't only on the list because I went to high school with the singer - but it helps! Carry On is my favorite song on the album, but I couldn't find it on youttube. So, I went with Chandeliers. This is more than a fair replacement. His voice is great, and the music is really poppy and interesting. Download this music from Amazon!
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4. The Like - He's Not a Boy

The 60s sound is definite. And, yeah. They are hot. Plus, they put out catchy songs.
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5. Stornoway - The Old Blind Man

I think I was underwhelmed by the rest of this CD, but this song was so good that it made me like everything else a little bit more.
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6. Broken Bells - The Ghost Insidey

This video is kind of neat. I hadn't seen it before, I had just heard the song. Otherwise, James Mercer's voice sticks in my head for years. I almost forgot this came out this year. I think George gave me a copy last year that he managed to snag early somehow.
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7. Belle and Sebastian - I Want The World To Stop

I was a little bit disappointed by this album. I am not saying it was bad. But, it wasn't Belle and Sebastian awesome, just B+S good. Anyway. When I was relistening to stuff to figure out what I liked best from this year I listened to this song again and realized if anyone else sang this it would be on my top whatever list right away. So, yeah. Yay! It's really good. Not all albums can be If You're Feeling Sinister.
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8. Aberfeldy - Summer's Gone

Ok. This song isn't from this year. But, I never heard until I saw it in a commercial. The animals all playing together is pretty fucking cool. But, the song is good, too. Even without meerkats jumping on giraffes' necks.
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9. The Magnetic Fields - You Must Be Out of Your Mind

Oh man. I will never get sick of this guy's voice. It's not their best song ever, but I still like it.
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10. Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People (Classic Rock Version)

I like that Sufjan Stevens is an eccentric. I like that the Age of Adz had a lot of discordant noise to it and nothing nearly as poppy as his previous effort. I like that he puts out an EP with a song covered twice once as a Classic Rock Version. He's a weirdo and I don't think him nearly as much if he wasn't.
http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/track/all-delighted-people-classic-rock-version


11. Uniform Motion - Back Up Your Soul

I like this song as much for it being a good song as the fact that it reminds me of something. I can't think of what it reminds me of. But, it is a happy reminder so I will just roll with it.
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Long time no talk everyone. I still read LJ, but never feel motivated to post to it. I downloaded the LJ app for my phone, so maybe that will cause me to post stupid quick things while away from the computer now or then. I know everyone would just love that! "Why are there blueberries, but no redberries?" "Do you think scabs would taste better if salted?" "Let's remember Jm J Bullock in our prayers today."

The cancer/chemo/radiation/surgery stuff is all done. The last couple of Cat(meow) scans have come back clean and hopefully that will continue. Unfortunately, a new problem has popped up that is stopping me from getting back to CA. I've had a bunch of tests for it and it is some dumb disease. Since it isn't even fatal I won't even bother mentioning it. Ironically, through the cancer, the major surgeries, radiation and chemo I never felt as bad as I do now. I have trouble getting more than a couple of hours of sleep and my awake time is filled with uncomfortableness and or pain. But, luckily, next week I will start receiving an infusion of a medicine that will hopefully alleviate the symptoms. Eventually, I will have to go in for an infusion every 8 weeks for a while. Hopefully, once I am to the point where I am at a baseline of healthy I can figure out plans to head back west in the 2 month gap and find a doctor where I can restart the treatments.

On a good note I have been finding fun stuff to do all over the place. I got Netflix so I could try out streaming through the PS3. That is seriously pretty awesome. I have been watching a ton of stuff I never even thought to try before. First season of Dexter(thanks daisy_petals!), First season of Friday Night Lights (thanks bristlesage!), Coupling (thanks srb!), some old MST3k (It sometimes holds up to how awesome I remember it (yay Joel!) other times it is just annoying.), Dr. Who not the old crappy stuff with the loser in a scarf but a new awesome one. I have only gotten through half of the first season (series for you stuffy brits) and it is really enjoyable. I know the next one features a new actor in the doctor part I hope he is as good, the IT Crowd Surprisingly good and funny, and a ton of other stuff that I forget about or I just have playing as background noise while I am doing other things. I consider Netflix streaming to be awesome. I wish the wire was on there because that is a show I need to finally enjoy.

I got Dragon Age:Origins for the PS3. I was holding off until I had a desktop computer I could use, because the Bioware games seem better on the PC. Finally, I saw it at a good price and grabbed it. It is fun and distracting and so very good! One complaint about the game I saw was that there is too many conversations with Non Player Characters. I think the opposite! I love all the conversations. Especially when you can be a jerk and make them fight you, or be really nice and make them love you with all their hearts. So, if you are into games I would suggest getting Dragon Age. Super Fun!

My brother and sister and I chipped in to get my Mom a sewing machine for Christmas. I was pretty excited. I looked forward to seeing her reaction after all of my research and the adventure I had going out to Princeton to find the store that carried the kind I wanted to get. Happily, she loves it and it was a huge surprise when she opened it.

I read Shutter Island. Great book! I look forward to seeing how well they handle the story in the movie.

I got stereo bluetooth headphones for my phone.Listening to music wirelessly is super awesome. It's also neat that I can take phone calls without even worrying about digging out my phone.

I hope everyone is doing really well and had a great Christmas and an even better New Years! Let's hope for (wo)men in 2010!

Well, tomorrow is the last chemo and that is pretty exciting. I still have other stuff going on related to the surgery that I hope clears up, so it isn't really as exciting as it could be. But, much better than being the first chemo! It will take me a couple of weeks to recover, as it always does, and then I can get to working on rehabbing myself back to a shape that can drive all day in the car and maybe even take a mule to the bottom of the grand canyon.

I did buy a new camera this week using some Gift Certificates. It's pretty expensive. But, I am excited about getting it. They call it a bridge camera, or some guy did at least, in that it has a lot of features an advanced photographer might use. But, at the same time it has all the auto and scene settings that a dunce like me is able to use. But, most importantly it's an ultra zoom! Perfect for capturing pictures of animals, or ballplayers at the baseball game. It should arrive in the mail tomorrow. Which is pretty exciting.

I am looking forward to getting back to CA, but the thought of leaving isn't as prominent as it was before I started chemo. I had no idea I would be this tired. It just builds up over time. And, then there is the little worry that it didn't work and when I get scanned before I leave they are going to say "Sorry dead man this is the last stop." But, I am guessing that won't be the case.

On a good note when I look at rooms for rent in Califonia. I see all sorts of fabulous spots with cheap rent and fun people. Hopefully, I can land someplace like that.

These chemo weeks aren't super fun. I am tired. I have odd pains, and I can't drink anything cold. Which means I am thirsty because warm water isn't tasty like ice water! But, every Wednesday is the good day. The meds stop and things start to get better and by the weekend. It's nice to have the break.

On a happier note .I decided to get an iPhone. I know a lot of people are anti-apple. I always liked the design of the original iPod, but thought that the price was too high for what you got. There was plenty of other companies putting out a great product at a better price. But, as far smart phones go I have not see anything that can compare to everything the iPhone has. The google phone looks awesome. But, t-mobile's network doesn't have much going for it in Santa Barbara. Let alone along the drive across the country, which is the biggest point of having a phone in the first place. Verizon's network is great, but from what I understand customer service leaves a bit to be desired, and more to the point I wasn't especially impressed with the Blackberry Storm.

I thought I would be leaving here in June, but treatments are going to take longer than I expected. So, it probably won't be until the end of the summer that I am able to leave. Which makes it so it would be possible for me to grab what ever new version of the phone comes out, or even the Palm Pre. But, I am impatient, and I am not sure that anything the Pre has to offer will surpass the iPhone and OS 3.0 will work with any phone I buy so that will be fine for me. One positive I see with the Palm Pre is that it seems like Sprint is finally agreeing to let other developers set things up on phones on their network. Although, it is a bad sign they are insisting on offering their GPS software with the monthly fee. But, really, I don't want to wait to find out if something better is coming and the iPhone is the best available at this time, so I think I am going to make the jump.

Do I really need a phone and a hefty monthly fee (The fee isn't much more than I pay with Sprint) so I can check the IMDB to see how many movies Burt Reynolds did with Dom Deliuse? The answer to this question is clearly a huge yes.

It has been a month since the surgery; I am now officially allowed to pick up heavy objects, drive a car and eat pizza. I haven't been especially hungry for pizza or eager to start training for the spot on the Olympic weigh lifting team. But, I did drive the car the first time yesterday and that passed by without incident. (Unless you count Sunday drivers and my upraised fist at their driving sins incidents. I don't.) I still have some pains, but everything seems to be healing up according to schedule. I feel a little bit better almost every day.

Two weeks ago I had an appointment with the Chemo doctor. He was able to expand my understanding of how the treatment works and greatly alleviate my concerns. He showed me my chart and explained the meds that would be used in my treatment and how they would be applied. He said the outlook was good and that "We can't prove beyond a doubt that you still have microscopic cancer cells. But, we cannot prove that you don't, either. Since you are young we are going to be aggressive so that you can live a long life."

The treatment plan hast two parts. Radiation coupled with chemotherapy medicine in tablet form. Followed by about 8 sessions of traditional chemotherapy. The radiation starts tomorrow and will be 5 days a week for 6 1/2 weeks. A month later, giving my body time to heal, they will start giving me chemotherapy. I will go in for chemo every other week. All told it's going to take about 26 weeks to get through every thing. I'm lucky in that the chemo I will have to undergo does not cause hair loss. Winters in Philly can be cold, that's one huge piece of good luck.

It's amazing how helpful and knowledgeable everyone at the Cancer Center has been. One of the nurses recognized me from when I was 12. Her son was in my cub scout pack. I told her to tell him Hello and the next time I saw her she said "Kevin remembered you and said you were a good kid. I told him 'he's still a good kid!'" It's nice to start off well liked. My original GI doctor called to see how I was doing and when I told her I was being treated there she said "Great! I like that group over there they do great work. I meant to ask to make sure you had considered them."

I am extremely glad the Phillies won their first World Series in 28 years this year. I was so lucky to be in Philadelphia to experience it from beginning to end. It was exciting to be around town for the sea of Red that the entry into the Series brought along. The excitement was palpable anywhere you went. And, it was delightful to be able to celebrate the win with my family as pandemonium overtook Greenacres Road. Also,this year's win means that I can safely make the wish that "I am going to live to see the Phillies win another World Series" and know that the Chemo/Radiation is going to give me atleast another 28 years to boo, cheer or both.

Obviously, this stuff isn't going to be easy. But, the amount of support I have makes it seem almost easy. And, on top of that- when they say Knowledge is Power they aren't kidding. It helped me so much when I found out the hows, the whys and the whens of my treatment. I know the timeline. I know what to expect - I know the worsts and the best. So, I am strongly prepared for the coming months. And, the greatest news is that my goal of getting back to California for the summer of 2009 remains unchanged.

Thanks to everyone for all of your replies. I have been really bad about emailing back the past couple of weeks and I am sorry about that. But, I truly appreciate all of your words.. And, all of the cards and letters have been awesome, too. Thanks a lot!

My time at the hospital was spent successfully. The surgeons were able to perform the operation with no problems. Everyone (with the glaring exception of cafeteria lady who surely escaped a low budget horror film. "Can I come in," she would screech as she was halfway across the room with her inedible tray of "food") was extremely nice. The nurses were pretty, attentive, and fun to talk to. The doctors came in and answered all of my questions, and seemed sorry that they had to cause me such intense pain. I didn't have any setbacks in my healiing, so I was able to leave on Sunday.

When the surgeon told me that I was going to be able to head home he gave me a dose of good news/bad news as well. The biopsies from the tumor show that it had spread further than would be optimal. That's the bad news. The good news is that the cancer did not spread to the lymph nodes. As he said, that's when things get nasty. But, because the tumor had gotten to a certain size he cannot be certain that he got all of the bad cells out with the surgery. He is presenting my tumor to a Tumor Board which will give me recommendations as far as whether I will get radiation, or chemotherapy or a combination of both. As a preventitive measure as much as anything else. I will know more about this later in the month. I won't be able to even start until I have healed up from the surgery.

Currently, I am still in some pain but feeling a lot better each day. I was a little bit down on Friday that I wasn't able to walk around without pain or discomfort. But, one of my nurses (the prettiest one) told me that usually 5 days after major surgery you aren't doing those things. That helped.

Thanks for the cards, good thoughts, prayers, emails, phone calls and especially for the big screen tvs. They all mean a lot to me.

I feel confident that this is all going to go smoothly without any difficulty. I have no doubt that I will be back in Santa Barbara enjoying my hikes and the ocean by the summer of 2009.

I figured some people might be wondering when I will be back on the road. Things are progressing nicely with my Dad. With him closer to home it is much easier for my Mom to take care of my sister. So, those two worries have started to dissipate. But, the third thing that was keeping me here has taken a turn for the worse. I haven't been feeling that great for a while and have been working with a doctor to figure out what was going on. Last week the doctor ordered some tests.

I got the medical tests back and they weren't great. The biopsies are out for second opinions, but the original pathologist reported finding high grade dysplasia in the samples that were taken. The bad news is that high grade dysplasia is the step before cancer. The good news is that high grade dysplasia is the step before cancer. So, (hopefully), the abnormal cells have not had a chance to spread. The surgeon will remove the offending parts and I will be given a clean bill of health.

Next week I have an appointment with the surgeon and I will find out a lot more about the whens hows and everything of that sort.