Author: jakefowler

Lists from the last six weeks (in no particular order)

New albums I’ve missed that looking forward to finally hearing:
Damon Albarn’s Everyday Robots
Liam Finn’s The Nihilist
Lykke Li’s I Never Learn
The Pixies’ Indie Cindy
tUnE yArDs’ nikki nack
The Horrors’ Luminous
The Eels’ Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett
The Black Keys’ Turn Blue
Tobacco’s Ultima II Massage

Books I’ve read:
Nick Harkaway’s The Gone-Away World
Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, and Aloha from Hell
Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation and Authority
Daniel Suarez’ Daemon and Freedom

Comic series I’ve consumed from beginning to end:
Runaways
Y, The LastMan
Invincible
Federal Bureau of Physics
Grindhouse – Doors Open At Midnight
Guardians of the Galaxy
saga
The Sandman Overture
Revival
Morning Glories
I also got all caught up on The Walking Dead

I think I’ve read a lot more comics than books because they are so much less work to concentrate on. I remember at one point when I was reading Sandman Slim – I was on both steroids and painkillers, a I could actually hear what was going on in the scenes. Not only the main action, but stuff that my brain made up for background noises. I’m sure the lack of sleep enhanced the hallucinations too. It was kinda cool.

Out and About

This is one of my favorite times of year at The Kansas City Art Institute. The campus is filled with a frantic creative energy. I’m really bummed to be missing it this year. This weekend is the end of semester shows, all of the departments on campus get to show off the top work of their students, much of it for sale. We always find a few treats, and this year was no exception.

I did manage to get out for a little while of Friday night to see a few departments. My friend Erich and I met my coworkers just before five in our offices in Mineral Hall. When I got there, they were acting a little strange, like they didn’t want me to see something. I just wanted to go back and see my desk because it’s been so long, but they were subtly trying to get me out. I managed to sneak past and found this:

Foiled

It was very good to get out and catch up with a lot of the faculty, staff, and students at KCAI. I feel very lucky to work with such great caring people – no other job has felt so much like home.

Maura and I went back on Saturday so that she could see the shows, since she spent Friday night in Illustration. My head paying the price for being out Friday night but it wasn’t as bad and I had feared it would be. It’s mostly a lot of pressure with stabbing pains every once in a while. Several times Friday night, I would cringe mid-sentence, the pick up where I left off; I’m sure it looks strange. Saturday was the same, although later in the day it was getting worse, with more constant headaches. This morning is much the same. I slept okay last night, although I woke myself up out of zombie dreams several times. I’m sure I’ve developed a higher tolerance after six weeks of headaches. I’m really hoping to get back to a somewhat normal life next week. I see the neurologist on Monday and I hope to go back to work by the middle of next week. I’m anxious to hear what suggestions the neurologist will have for me.

More Waiting

I’m in my sixth week of recovering from the DAVF embolization – sitting around at home doing very little. The few times I’ve gone out, I’ve paid for it later with worse headaches.

I hate to complain, there are times that six weeks of nothing sounds dreamy, but I’m more than ready to get back to real life. As much of an introvert as I am, I miss being around people – I think I’m pretty much fully recharged at this point. I must admit, it took four weeks for me to rally start getting stir crazy. Though I was pretty drugged up for the first three.

As long as I take it easy, the headaches are tolerable. It’s when I try to do much of anything that they get bad. If I can find something to concentrate on, I can tune them out. I’ve been reading a LOT. I lost count of how many books and comics I’ve read over the last few weeks. Also, some TV shows and movies, when I can tolerate the sound. One thing I miss a lot is listening to music. There have been several new releases that I have queued up, but haven’t been able to listen to without pain.

I see a neurologist on Monday, less than a week away now. I’m really hoping that she can help me deal with the pain.

MRI & MRA

I spoke with my neurosurgeon’s nurse practitioner today. They’ve scheduled me for an MRI and an MRA on Monday to hopefully figure out why I’m still having these dang headaches. I should have the results pretty quickly, my neurosurgeon wants to look at them before he leaves town next week.