Ah...migraines

It's funny how sometimes when you invoke something - call out it's name, describe a person, etc. - how that thing tends to show up.

Last night I told some folks at a writing meeting about how when I was in the 3rd grade, I developed ocular migraines.

An ocular migraine works like this: During a period of stress one of the eyes starts seeing what looks like a fuzzy test pattern. This test pattern blocks vision in that eye, essentially rendering it blind. A few minutes later, a blistering pain creeps over the one side of the head, the one opposite to the side the test pattern appeared. (I think this is less common, though. Some people just report the blindness with no headache.)

This is what I had in the 3rd grade. I was kind of a stressed out kid.

My mother took me to our family physician, Dr. W. and he asked me a few questions. Afterwards, he took my mother aside and told her that, in his opinion, I was lying.

I have never been one to make up disease. Fake it? Sure. But I have real ethical issues about claiming an illness I've never had or making one up altogether (The line is thin and grey, but it's there.). Having asthma for most of my youth pretty much dispelled any notion that sickness is a glamorous way to get attention. So, when he said this, I was crushed. Why would I make up something so totally bizarre?

At the very least, he sent me to an optometrist. I drew a picture of what I saw and handed it over.

He took one quick look. "Oh, you're having an ocular migraine."

That's right. VINDICATION.

There's really nothing you can do about it but let it pass. After a couple of weeks I quit having them on a consistent basis. The last one I can remember was about four years ago.

Regular migraines, however, are more common (And hereditary...both my Mother and my sister are laid out by them). I get one maybe once every two months. And lucky me, that was the lotto I won today. Congratulations to -j-j-, today's migraine raffle winner!

I have managed this far into the day. I know it may appear that I have all my faculties in tact, but I'm really pushing it right now. I need to lie down, and hope this wave of nausea passes. I might be begging off the Neutrino Train tonight.

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In other news, Pregenius offered up a an interesting invitation:

Leave your name in my blog comments. Once you do that, this is what I'll do for you...

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me. (if possible!)
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll tell you a poem I think you'd like
8. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
9. If you do this you MUST post this on yours. You MUST. It is written.


So, I simply HAD to put my name in her comments to see what she said:

For the mysterious -j-j-, whoever she is...

1. I'll respond with something random about you. Your SKALD story felt like a confession...i was waiting for you to tell us where you buried the children. (Maybe I'll retell it here...or maybe not.-j-j-)
2. I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you. "Canary" by Liz Phair or "I Can't Decide" by the Scissor Sisters / ...not a movie but "Clarissa Explains it All"
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in. marshmallow fluff
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me. (if possible!)Blarshnof MetalMan. (this may not make sense to you yet, nor me, but it will! Let's make sure of that. I don't like not knowing my own inside jokes.)
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.Maelstrom audition?
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of. bushbaby
7. I'll tell you a poem I think you'd like
From "The Flowering of the Rod"
by HD
[20]
Some say she slipped out and got away,
some say he followed her and found her,

some say he never found her
but sent a messenger after her

with the alabaster jar;
some say he himself was a Magician,

a Chaldean, not an Arab at all
and had seen the beginning of the end,

that he was Balthasar, Melchior,
or that other of Bethlehem;

some say he was masquerading,
was an Angel in disguise

and had really arranged this meeting
to conform to the predicted pattern

which he or Balthesar or another
had computed exactly from the stars;

some say it never happened,
some say it happens over and over;

some say he was an old lover
of Mary Magdalene and the gift of the myrrh

was in recognition of an old burnt-out

yet somehow suddenly renewed infatuation;

some say he was Abraham,
some say he was God.


8. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you. ummm wanna hang out sometime? how do i audition for one of your shows? :P If you lost your hand, what would you want it replaced with? Where would you go in the whole world if it didn't involve evil flying (unless you like evil flying of course),
9. If you do this you MUST post this on yours. You MUST. It is written.

Thank you, Pregenius. I'm working on a response of my own.

And yes...flying is EVIL.