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...and I did today, at the UCSF dermatology department, where I had a minor procedure to remove two (benign) spots of seborrheic keratoses from my scalp.
As they were removing it, one of the doctors commented, "It's very superficial", and I quipped, "Just like its owner."
Always after the laugh, that's me.
I got one.
happy
As recounted in an entry from last weekend, last Sunday I met a guy named Robert at Harvey's in the Castro, and got a kiss (okay, a lot of them) and a phone number. Last night. I got a proper date, and it was really good. We met at the Cliff House, had drinks and dinner, then took a drive around the city (I was playing tour guide), and ended up in the Castro for a nightcap before swinging back by my place.
It's always hard to judge how a first date will pan out, but we didn't part company until 2:30 am, so that was a good 7 hours! Promising? Maybe!
Today, as Becky and I sat down to brunch at Q on Clement St., Robert called me, which was a good sign.
After an afternoon or home furnishing shopping and pizza for dinner, I came home with an art deco floor lamp, and, after assembling it (with Becky's help), I called Robert back and we chatted for a while. Seems like a second date is in the works. Woo hoo!
Dad, who was extremely hard of hearing, never admitted to it. Mom, on the other hand, wore her age like a badge and used it as an excuse for everything. There's a line somwehere between blindly refusing to accept the consequences of growing older, and surrendering to it. I'm determined to find that line. As part of this, I've been trying -- despite working too many hours -- to get out and actually get exercise. Of late I've mostly only managed it on weekend hikes with my friend Skip. But the rainy weather of the past month or so has put the kibosh on that, alas!
Being over 40 now I'm trying to take better care of myself in general. As such, I've been trying to take preventative action on anything health-wise that seems off. I recently had dermatological surgery to get rid of some things on my scalp (the medical name of which is a mile long and I can't recall offhand), which were benign but of which I thought better safe than sorry. I've also noticed that I've been feeling increasingly run down, and even after a solid night's sleep, I often feel like I haven't slept. Boyfriends past have told me that I sometimes stop breathing for a minute or so at a time while sleeping, which I seem to recall my father doing. I mentioned all this to my doctor this week and he said it sounds like I have a classic case of sleep apnea, so he sent me to a sleep clinic.
There's not much to say about the clinic, other than to say they put a zillion sensors on me and put me to bed, and recorded a thousand pages of data from EEGs and blood oxygen levels to breath analysis and even if I had leg twitches while sleeping.
I am Locutus of Borg... or it's 7 a.m. at the sleep clinic
The official results go to my doctor on Monday, so I'll have to do a follow-up with him. But the technician at the clinic said that I did exhibit apnea in the second half of the night (the constricted breathing), so we'll see what the recommendation on a next step is. The funny thing was that since she not only recorded this data but watched me via camera all night, she was able to tell me in which sleeping positions the apnea occured, and in which positions I snored or didn't snore. Right side good, left side bad!
Apnea is a problem for a couple of reasons. One, it's now believed to be a serious contributor to heart failure. Second, it distrupts the normal sleep cycle. The way it was described to me is as follows. You go into REM sleep and your voluntary muscle control switches off. When this happens an apnea sufferer may end up where some point in the airway actually closes, so even though the lungs are trying to draw a breath, no air comes in. So, after a minute or so the brain goes "hey!" and kicks you out of REM sleep so the voluntary muscles turn back on and you can move or swallow or do whatever it is that clears the airway. Trouble is, this can happen over and over in the night, repeatly kicking you out of REM sleep. So even though you're sleeping, you're not deep sleeping...so you sleep but yet you don't. This airway constriction also can cause the lungs to work hard to draw a breath and make your heart rate go up, so you actually can wake up exhausted because those organs have been getting more of a workout while you're asleep than when you're awake, which is why the medical community suspects a correlation between apnea and the high instance of heart attacks that happen at 4-5 in the morning during sleep.
That went on longer than I meant it to. Anyway. let's see what the doc says and what I need to do to fix it.
Guess I'll try to sleep on my right side tonight and see if I feel more rested. How to keep myself from rolling over...hmmm...
Since I moved into this house [on Ivy Drive] I've been taking my time trying to design spaces that I actually want to live in, rather than just buying pieces and see how they fit together.
One of the odder spaces in the house is the kitchen, which isn't very big, and is made even smaller by a whole wall of cabinets at one end. That end of the room just feels too "woody" and boxed in.
So, I got the idea to put some kinds on insets into the the doors to break up the solid wall of wood.
CLICK HERE to see my concepts
I like the mirror concept a lot, but the weight of all that glass and all the holes I'd have to drill to support them makes me hesitant to go that route. I'm going to look into lighter metal or mylar materials that would be mirror-like. So decisions made...but I'm thinking.
Hmmmm....
Well, it's over with Nick Pettitt and I. Not that there was much there, just a few visits in 2002 and 2003, but I'm still disappointed.
Well, let me qualify "disappointed". Nick's partnered, so I never had any illusions about the relationship being more than what it was. But I did like his company when we were together. I'd hoped we could stay long-distance friends who occasionally saw each other, but apparently he started to see our getting together as some sort of obligation, which is too bad. I never asked anything much of him...even he was the one who instigated all his visits here. Just goes to show you that sometimes even asking for nothing is too much. Cest la vie!
Actually, I'm surprisingly ambivalent about the whole thing. I knew it was coming when he typed "we have to talk" just before I went to bed Thursday night, but I didn't lose any sleep over it. I mean, how broke up can you really be about someone after 18 months where all you do is type a few short messages to each other a couple of times a week?
Friday was a little crappy at work. Lots of stuff didn't go right. No major disasters, just lots of frustrations. Fortunately the evening was pretty good. I went out with my friend (and next door neighbor) Patrick and his new boyfriend for Happy Hour, and chatted with some nice guys. A nice wind-down to the week, and the kind I rarely get as I don't usually get home from work in time to go out for things like that.
Also, I got a call that my new dining room table has arrived from Italy. Now I have to arrange to go pick it up, as the cost of shipping it here from SW San Francisco is a bit much!
- The Indredibles -- A blast!
- Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow -- Laaaaame
- Team America World Police -- Rude, crude, foul, and I laughed until I hurt
- The Corporation -- Interesting and Infuriating
- OutFoxed -- Which Proves that Fox News is neither Fair nor Balanced...which should come as no big surprise to anyone
I've thought this before, but it popped into hy head today while driving up highway 101...
Bumper stickers are the most cowardly form of self expression. You tell people what you think while racing away from them at 60 miles per hour.
Looking over this blog I thought it might be a good idea to make some fast way to find particular subjects. Here's my first stab:
FILMS
"Super Size Me" -- 30 days of Big Mac Attack, 20 May
"Metropolis" 2002, week of 8 April
"Monty Python & the Holy Grail" at the Paramount, 9 April
"Hellboy", 11 April
Sarah Jacobson film retrospective, 30 March
"Plaster Caster", or How Do Rock Stars Measure UP? 24 March
"Kitchen Stories" the Norwegian Entry into the 2003 Academy Awards, 25 February
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, 20 February
"The Triplets of Belleville", seen 8 February
Dali-Disney's "Destino" short subject, seen 8 February
Robert McNamara and "The Fog of War", seen 14 February
"Kurosawa" documentary, 13 February
Kurosawa's "Ikiru", 13 February
Kurosawa's "Sanjuro", 13 February
Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress", 13 February
TV
"Cowboy Bebop" series finale, 24 March
"Cowboy Bebop", anime I can live with, 25 February
VIDEO EDITING
"Laser Disc to DVD"
THEATER
Videotaping "The Mouse That Roared", 7 March
PLACES, WALKS & RIDES
Paramount Theater tour, April 14
Ocean Beach, Tulip Garden and Murphey Windmill in S.F., Sat. 27 March
Bike ride east of Lake Merritt in Oakland, Sunday 28 March
Road trip to Pacifica & Half Moon Bay, CA, 21 March
Rockridge in Oakland, CA, 14 March
Trestle Glen and Glen Park walk, 28 February
Moutain Lake Park, S.F. & Fort Baker in Marin, 25 February
Ocean Beach & the Dutch Windmill in S.F., 15 February
FRIENDS & FAMILY
That's My Mama..., 26 May
Christopher Gray visits, week of 29 March
MISCELLANY
Interview with me about my old Atari Cyber Studio Products,23 March
The animated music video "I Love Death, 23 March
I joined John Kitchener and Becky in taking the Paramount tour. My 3rd time on the tour, their first. Because there was a show going on that afternoon, we didn't get the tour in the normal order, and they didn't take us backstage. Alas! The great thing I heard after the tour is that there's a fundraiser going on next month to raise funds towards reopening the Fox Oakland, two blocks away. (I checked the Fox Oakland website and am excited by this prospect. I may volunteer some time towards this project.)
After brunch with John K., Becky and I then went to help John Sugden finish clearing out his storage unit, this on the promise of a Tommy's run. I vowed I would not help John move again, but apparently I have no will power where margaritas are concerned!
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