Apr 23, 2009
Apr 20, 2009
Weekend for Play
I've had two days of slight improvement, and this weekend was sunny and eventful...
Friday night Dan went to the driving range with Matt and I joined Gayle, Abbie, and Garrett at the movies...Zach Ephron is so dreamy! (I guess.) 17 Again? Pretty funny thanks to Thomas Lennon. Tweenyboppers unite in their love for it...
Saturday Dan hit the golf course with Matt and Jesse while I slept in. We spent the afternoon finishing rearranging the living room! (Photos soon...) In the evening, we joined Patrick and Teressa at Richard and Jeanette's new house for a housewarming gathering. Microbrews, a yummy vegan smorgasbord, apples to apples, and guitar hero. Not to mention great company! (Rocco even had a play date with Marlowe!) The photos above of the giant bike were taken that night. Their friend, Clint, wizzes around town on it. Richard and Patrick gave it a try, so I couldn't help myself! Sometimes I really like to do something that I am a little afraid to do...And I'm so glad I did it! It was hilarious!! Dan was very proud of me (especially because he was a little chicken to do it.)
Sunday we hit Hagg Lake to find some trout. We failed miserably. But we did get to enjoy the sun, a few beers, just the two of us.....Well, and Rocco. Who went offleash for the first time while being outdoors with us. Dan was very nervous letting him run around, but I kept optimistically arguing that if he ran off, he'd come back. Actually, HE WON'T. Dan totally won the domestic dispute. There was a good 10 minutes when we thought we'd completely lost him. Other than that, he did really well and even romped around in the lake! We all napped hard when we got home and then pigged out on dinner and watched Burn After Reading (very good).
Apr 16, 2009
Books and a General Lament
I have been very depressed. Still waiting to see what Cymbalta can do for me.
I don't mean to be a downer. I find I have nothing else to write about.
There has been little happening since I got back from Illinois. I haven't done hardly anything at all other than apply for jobs among the massive 12% in Oregon searching too.
Well, this is not entirely true. I have done a few things. I've bought a lot of mochas, smoked too much, and talked on the phone a lot.
There has been no reading. I felt ambitious today with the redemption of the sun and bought three books for $9. God bless the bargain bin. "The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007," "The Yellow House; Van Gogh, Gaughin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles," and "Demonology (Short Stories by Rick Moody - unrelated to demons).
Speaking of books, Dan's birthday came and went without a post. He requested Little Debbie Easter cakes. I provided (2 boxes!) and got him two library books as well: "Watching Baseball Smarter" and "Trout Bum." Dan is 32 and I love him. He has been extremely patient and supportive lately.
I made it a week without buying anything (I truly am an addict, so this is substantial) and then took 10 steps backwards with a few things for the rearranged living room: a poster, a shelf, two pillows. I am trying to make the space more cheerful. Will I be more cheerful? Too much gray, brown, and black. Dreary.
Did I mention the sun is out today? Beautifully warm. We are going to take advantage of this change of events and go fishing this weekend.
I also hung out at the library reading magazines. The interest is barely there, so it was more like an aggressive flipping through. I watched 3 Gilmore Girls episodes one afternoon. Otherwise, the TV remains off. I count stitches on furniture, think of new ways to write my signature, pet the dog and cat. Stare at the leaves on the trees.
When everything feels meaningless it brings such grief.
Tomorrow I will shower and we'll go from there.
I don't mean to be a downer. I find I have nothing else to write about.
There has been little happening since I got back from Illinois. I haven't done hardly anything at all other than apply for jobs among the massive 12% in Oregon searching too.
Well, this is not entirely true. I have done a few things. I've bought a lot of mochas, smoked too much, and talked on the phone a lot.
There has been no reading. I felt ambitious today with the redemption of the sun and bought three books for $9. God bless the bargain bin. "The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007," "The Yellow House; Van Gogh, Gaughin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles," and "Demonology (Short Stories by Rick Moody - unrelated to demons).
Speaking of books, Dan's birthday came and went without a post. He requested Little Debbie Easter cakes. I provided (2 boxes!) and got him two library books as well: "Watching Baseball Smarter" and "Trout Bum." Dan is 32 and I love him. He has been extremely patient and supportive lately.
I made it a week without buying anything (I truly am an addict, so this is substantial) and then took 10 steps backwards with a few things for the rearranged living room: a poster, a shelf, two pillows. I am trying to make the space more cheerful. Will I be more cheerful? Too much gray, brown, and black. Dreary.
Did I mention the sun is out today? Beautifully warm. We are going to take advantage of this change of events and go fishing this weekend.
I also hung out at the library reading magazines. The interest is barely there, so it was more like an aggressive flipping through. I watched 3 Gilmore Girls episodes one afternoon. Otherwise, the TV remains off. I count stitches on furniture, think of new ways to write my signature, pet the dog and cat. Stare at the leaves on the trees.
When everything feels meaningless it brings such grief.
Tomorrow I will shower and we'll go from there.
Apr 4, 2009
At My Desk: Health Insurance
Listening to: NCAA coverage
Stack of books: Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson, From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun, The Quiet American by Graham Greene.
Pile: Daily planner, magazines, Prescott College Master of Arts catalog.
Miscellaneous: Triscuits, NOMC chronic pain support group pamphlet, scissors, beer.
The boys: Rocco sleeping on the chair, Hobbes making the rounds, Dan watching the game.
Thinking about: Two weeks ago my doctor put me on a new anti-depressant, Cymbalta. It's a young drug...Only three years old and therefore has no generic form yet. I took the introductory pack she gave me and then went to get my prescription filled before I left for Illinois. My insurance denied the medication coverage until I tried 4 alternative drugs that have generic forms. (Had I actually taken that route, it would have taken at least six months to try those and see if they were working effectively--no matter my doctor's opinion that this is the best drug for me to try at this point.) It took a week for the pharmacist, my doctor, and the insurance company to work it out. (My doctor submitted information claiming I had already tried those drugs and need to be on Cymbalta.) This was very frustrating. Isn't it my doctor's job to determine what I take? Who is the insurance company to prescribe my meds? I am not a real person to them, just another policy holder. They are pinching their pennies (rightfully so, given the economic climate in Oregon and the threats to subsidized state health care)...Yet, the snafu left this policy holder dangerously dropping off a medication and helpless for over a week. I don't know how I got through my trip feeling so unstable...I did a lot of crying and sleeping in between seeing friends and helping with the wedding. Dan picked up the medication today, and even with the final approved copay, we're going to shell out $75 every month until we can see how the drug is working....and then go from there. Of course I want the drug to work. I want to feel better. At the same time, I don't. I don't want such an expensive drug. This experience has made me very angry, yet I don't know who to blame. Myself? I fail to find a secure job with a company that can offer me health care. The insurance company? They are doing their best to offer coverage for everyone else like me in this state who is denied coverage by regular insurance companies. We already have pre-existing health conditions and I'm sure they are all very costly to treat. Those insurance companies denying me? Politicians? Investors? What can I even do to make this better for myself or other people like me? I feel very helpless.
Tell me who to write, who to call, what house to egg.
Stack of books: Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson, From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun, The Quiet American by Graham Greene.
Pile: Daily planner, magazines, Prescott College Master of Arts catalog.
Miscellaneous: Triscuits, NOMC chronic pain support group pamphlet, scissors, beer.
The boys: Rocco sleeping on the chair, Hobbes making the rounds, Dan watching the game.
Thinking about: Two weeks ago my doctor put me on a new anti-depressant, Cymbalta. It's a young drug...Only three years old and therefore has no generic form yet. I took the introductory pack she gave me and then went to get my prescription filled before I left for Illinois. My insurance denied the medication coverage until I tried 4 alternative drugs that have generic forms. (Had I actually taken that route, it would have taken at least six months to try those and see if they were working effectively--no matter my doctor's opinion that this is the best drug for me to try at this point.) It took a week for the pharmacist, my doctor, and the insurance company to work it out. (My doctor submitted information claiming I had already tried those drugs and need to be on Cymbalta.) This was very frustrating. Isn't it my doctor's job to determine what I take? Who is the insurance company to prescribe my meds? I am not a real person to them, just another policy holder. They are pinching their pennies (rightfully so, given the economic climate in Oregon and the threats to subsidized state health care)...Yet, the snafu left this policy holder dangerously dropping off a medication and helpless for over a week. I don't know how I got through my trip feeling so unstable...I did a lot of crying and sleeping in between seeing friends and helping with the wedding. Dan picked up the medication today, and even with the final approved copay, we're going to shell out $75 every month until we can see how the drug is working....and then go from there. Of course I want the drug to work. I want to feel better. At the same time, I don't. I don't want such an expensive drug. This experience has made me very angry, yet I don't know who to blame. Myself? I fail to find a secure job with a company that can offer me health care. The insurance company? They are doing their best to offer coverage for everyone else like me in this state who is denied coverage by regular insurance companies. We already have pre-existing health conditions and I'm sure they are all very costly to treat. Those insurance companies denying me? Politicians? Investors? What can I even do to make this better for myself or other people like me? I feel very helpless.
Tell me who to write, who to call, what house to egg.
Apr 3, 2009
April Artist of the Month: Bill Rankin
[Tropical Cyclones, 1945–2006. Data from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Citynoise (Bill Rankin), March 2008.]This month's artist is making the recent rounds on blogs, including The Lulu Bird and the email subscription for Apartment Therapy. Rankin is a graduate student in the departments of history of science and architecture at Harvard, with side projects including his site, radicalcartography, and work featured in exhibitions and publications. Aside from the site, his maps can be seen in a traveling exhibition, Experimental Geography. The show is currently stationed at Rochester Art Center, in Rochester, Minnesota, February 7 - April 18, 2009. Other destinations planned over the next two years include Albuquerque, Maine, and Ontario.
Is cartography art? Absolutely. It takes a conceptual mind to wed science to aesthetics, building visual models of reality. Rankin distills data from urban development, sociological and personal data, astrology, agriculture, and area codes (to name a few!) into visualizations in both design and animation. I was immediately taken with the first map that I saw (photo at right), as it simultaneously speaks to the analytical and aesthetic pleasure points of my brain.
Links to further exploration of Rankin's work:
Official web site of radicalcartography
Experimental Geography
Bill Rankin student web site
March Artist of the Month: Hayley Barker
[Hayley Barker. The One that Eats Your Fears, 22 wide by 30 inches high, ink, pencil, & gouache on paper. 2008.]"I am using the idea of a “monster” as a template on which to build representations of the other as creatures that both explode and implode; living conglomerations that are on the verge of formlessness."
I also love working with these mediums and her work, as well as Rankin's work, has inspired me (after a very long sabbatical) to begin my series involving anatomy and the intangible degrees of pain and suffering.
Links for further exploration of Barker's work:
Hayley Barker official web site
Hayley Barker blog
Gallery Representation at Charles A. Hartman Fine Art
Apr 2, 2009
Congratulations to Ross & Amy!
Ross & Amy Mulder
Married Saturday, March 28, 2009
Cornerstone Church
Bourbonnais, Illinois
xoxo
Married Saturday, March 28, 2009
Cornerstone Church
Bourbonnais, Illinois
xoxo
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