Bits and pieces

I've got a mental list of things that I've been meaning to blog about, and now that I've got a few quiet moments to myself sitting in front of the gas fireplace in the hotel lobby (oh, how I miss having a fireplace...) I am attempting to collect my thoughts a bit. The last couple weeks have been incredibly busy, between Northern Voice, Boston, and a bazillion appointments, on top of being really sick last week, I still haven't quite had the time to process everything.

To catch up, Tuesday night the week before last, I went and had my MRI done finally (it actually turned out to be of my head and ears, not neck). Despite what I'd heard, I actually found it somewhat interesting/enjoyable as far as medical tests go--there were several rounds done ranging between 20 seconds and about 6 minutes, and each round had a different sound and pattern. It was kind of like my own personal electroaccoustic music show...only I couldn't groove to the beat. I think having done a lot of laying still and breathing for yoga, it didn't really bother me having to lay there with my head relatively immobilized, and I actually didn't really feel at all claustrophobic which seems to be a common complaint about the test. Plus, I got to wear rad scrubs and see what I would have looked like if I'd ever gone to med school. On the way out, I ran into an old friend from SFU, Dave Bell, which was rad cause I hadn't seen him in what must already be something like four years. It was a pretty odd place to run into someone, but great to catch up for a few minutes none the less! Should be getting the MRI and balance testing results when I'm back.

Then it was time for Northern Voice. Thursday night at the pre-conference dinner, I faced my fear of public speaking and read one of my blog entries at the open mic. It went pretty well all things considered, and I got a good cheer when I got to the part about deciding to read at the dinner. (photo by Ianiv) It was definitely comforting that a couple other of the lovely blogger ladies (Stephanie and Kim) who were a little apprehensive about reading in front of everyone were sitting at the same table for dinner.

Highlights for me were definitely Matt Mullenweg's inspiring keynote talk (listen here) and Dave Olson's rad talk entitled "Fuck stats, make art" (good overview on Miss604, Audio of the presentation documented by Cosmo). I can't even really communicate how great Dave's talk was...it was one of those experiences that made me totally reevaluate what I'm doing, creatively speaking, in my life. His message is still percolating in the back of my mind, and I have yet to fully process and integrate it. (Got a lot of good photos from the conference, so I'm gonna throw a couple more in...)

The following week I was really sick, which sucked mainly because I felt really bad that I was missing work right before taking the week off to go to DrupalCon, and I'm still not 100% again, but managed to pull myself together enough to go on the trip anyway. Oh, and also last week, I had an appointment with a new rheumatologist to get a second opinion on the diagnosis of fibromyalgia that the other guy gave me, and then proceeded to tell me to 'just forget' (after a very non-thorough work up...the guy was a little odd). The new guy was also kinda odd in a totally different way, but at least seemed really smart--he didn't think I have fibromyalgia, and instead said that my pain is probably unrelated to my other health stuff, and that it was most likely due to my slight scoliosis and desk job. His advice was physiotherapy, better posture and work setup, and more exercise. Kinda frustrating that two doctors with the same certification can have such totally different opinions on what is wrong with a person--goes to show how much of medicine is really an art. Anyhow, I think I'm going to give up on pursuing that any further for now.

And then before I knew it, I was hopping on a plane to Boston. And here I am. Have been feeling so-so, though much better since I ventured out and got some real (ie. non packaged) food yesterday. I'm pretty tired, everyone has hit a bit of a wall today, but I'm going to attempt to go to bed earlier tonight even though I still haven't exactly adjusted to the time change (and there's not really much point now...), as there is a session I want to make first thing in the morning.

And on that note, I think I'm going to wrap this up.