..it's a good life, it's a great life, it's green and wild and it's fine...

...and so it is!! I've had such fun "Younglifing" it lately. To save time, if you don't know what Young Life is, refer to www.younglife.org. The past three years, I have been volunteering with Fulton High school and this past school year, I added WB, where I teach. Summer camps are quickly upon us, and while I cannot go this year, there are other roles to fulfill. Thursday morning, I went with Fulton girls to do some yard/house work in order to raise money for camp. They are SUCH troopers -from planting tomatoes to flipping compost!! And before I get emails protesting me overdoing it - let me just clarify that I just planted some flowers in the shade and did some light dusting! It was a lovely morning - we hit Krispy Kreme on the way in - and YES the "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign was on. As we were leaving, we encountered a snapping turtle. Whitney was merely trying to HELP him (or her, I suppose) by attempting to pick it up and move it across the street to the lake side, and we all discovered just how FAST those things can move and WHY they are called "snapping turtles." (Whitney emerged unscathed, if you were wondering.)

Shameless plug: If you are so inclined, Fulton is in a lower income section of town and donations for their Camp trips would be HIGHLY welcome. Email me if you're interested in doing this. Even if it's small - EVERY little bit adds up!

Friday, after a quick check in with my oncologist, I met my WB girls up at the Food Pantry in Maryville, and we helped serve supper to some less fortunate people. I have missed them terribly, so it was fun to get caught up with them, AND a joy to watch them serve so selflessly. They are leaving for camp this Sunday, so we got to talk about what a good time that will be for them. As I always keep a whiffle ball and bat in my trunk for impromptu fun, we commenced with a quick batting session on the top of the parking garage. Naturally, Murphy's law dictates that it's a matter of time before the ball gets hit over the wall and down to the ground.

I DEFINITELY get by with a little help from my friends! Was quite over the hair this week, so today Ken came over to buzz it, as Katie, Pete and Tiffany hung out with us for moral support. I'm all G.I.Jane baby!! Woo-hoo.

Saw Shrek 2 - highly recommend it!!

Happy Birthday to my roommate Stacie!!! She's moving to VA soon and I'm sad, but am thankful for all the silly fun we've had for the past two years, that and the fact that I've made a West Wing addict out of her as well....

All 7 and we'll watch them fall....

...or in my case it's more like 7 hundred K as I'm referring to my hair. It's the time for the starting to fall out process. I have this visual, (all of you who remember the 80's raise your hand) of this comic strip, "Bloom County" and there was this sequence where "Bill the Cat" took this hair growth tonic - he sneezed and was totally bald. I've been having that thought, but, really it's more like I'm a cat or a husky losing the winter coat. With all the hair I have, this process could take forever. Oh wait, they're pumping more drugs into me next week, so that might speed it up. No matter, this will no doubt be a good training for the sequence of my life where I want to be a spy. Or a pirate queen.

Besides, in my vast life experiences, I've learned the following:

1.Bruises fade
(even when your father thinks it's funny to poke them and go "What's that?)

2. Cuts indeed heal, and even leave interesting scars to talk about.
(I have a great one left over from a 3AM mud football game in college!)

3. Broken hearts do indeed mend, although it takes a long time.
(and also leaves somewhat interesting scars.)

4. Bad dye-jobs do grow out.
(and any fabric damaged in the process can be replaced)

5. GPA's can be recovered in spite of two semesters of bad judgement.
(All of you brand new college freshmen, keep that in mind!!)

6. Broken limbs heal, and provide you then with a fun weather barometer.
(My ankle from my ski accident always throbs a bit when it's going to rain or snow!)

7. Hair will, no doubt, GROW BACK!!!
(and while you're waiting for that, you can pretend you're on "Alias.")


Today's adventure: going to the radiologist. This was just a first time consult. However,instead of the guy my oncologist set me up with, they had me down for a Dr. Green. In my gentle and please-let-me-be-your-doormat kind of way (riiiiiiight), I made it clear that, that was just not going to happen. So, now, it's all good and rescheduled and I get to keep Dr. Bertoli, who came in to talk for a minute. I have had several inputs on his capability and character, so I was most keen (when was the last time you got to use that word) to keep him. And my first impressions were on the mark with all that I have heard. He's already been calling around concerning case, which is (big word) PHARYNGEAL, and has experience with this specific type of cancer - yay! So, no big hospital tales, except to say that UT is soon opening up a starbucks!! Great for me! and good for all of you who plan on coming to "hang out" during tiki-room time!!

BUT, the word Bertoli, besides making me REALLY want to go to Italy, makes me think of the word Fibanacci. So, today's math lesson:

Fibonacci is perhaps best known for a simple series of numbers, introduced in Liber abaci and later named the Fibonacci numbers in his honour. The series begins with 0 and 1. After that, use the simple rule:

Add the last two numbers to get the next.

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987,...

You might ask where this came from? In Fibonacci's day, mathematical competitions and challenges were common. In 1225 Fibonacci took part in a tournament at Pisa ordered by the emperor himself, Frederick II.

Rumour has it, and I like to think there's truth to it, is that it was actually Fibanacci's WIFE who came up with the concept, but it being 1225 and all, she probably wasn't going to get much credit. The sequence is fascinating, espcecially when you look at how it lines up with God's creative plans in nature. The spiral patterns, on a sunflower or on a seashell, line up with the sequence. It has been suggested to me that there were less than noble reasons the Fibanacci'e were so interested in such things. Sounds like fun for you all to do some reasearch.


Alright, enough nerd-dom.

WB's graduation was last night and I'm so glad that I got to go. Of course the number of ballcaps and airhorns was staggering, but I still have to get used to the idea that the bloody concession stand is open! I just CANNOT fathom someone munching down on a hot dog or nachos during a COMMENCEMENT! Yet, considering I have many incredible students, that I'm close with, who did graduate last night, it was lovely to get to be with them a bit for that milestone.

Also in the middle of habitat-hunting, will be providing updates for all you bored dears who read past the Fibanacci part.

Sotheby's

I have all this bloody time on my hands, to which I decided to turn into an educational sabbatical (because that sounds soooo much better). Since I'm somewhat "grounded" in Knoxville, it is Knoxville that gets to become my own personal Smithsonian, or Carthage (for the exploration factor).


Today's adventure started downtown. Now there's something about cities I love, walkable cities, like London, or Chicago, or Savannah... There is a beauty and intrigue and somewhat of mystery of our downtown. Alright, I am aware that last sentence reads right out of some uibiquitous travel guide. Walking through the streets this morning, I felt like Forest Gump, wondering about the history of the buildings. ("Where have they been, where are they going?" and YES, I realize that buildings can't GO anywhere, if you don't get the allegory, well, too bad! ;-) ) It's fun to know the acutal history, but more fun to invent your own.

The reason which brought me downtown in the first place, was Gretchen's House Auction, which has been the basis, if not for much "blogging", for many a conversation I've had, in the last few weeks. Brillant as I am, I'm somewhat of an idiot when it comes to anything that has to do with financial paperwork, my own taxes, loan things and since I'm still in the "I should have been on 'FRIENDS'" phase, I rent an apartment.

Nordic Queen that she is, when her rental property was foreclosed upon, she gathered her wits and strength and set about to get it herself. Doubtless SHE'S learned a great deal about the red tape and the in general selling of your soul that goes along with aquiring a house. ( A process that Kenna is learning about even as you read this!!!) So, it's the 11th hour, and I'm her backup.

Oooh! sidebar: I found out it's quite amusing to be dressed up, walk about in courthouse country, look confident, make eye-cotact, and just have a little happy-with-yourself knowing smile when you see people. In litigation-land, driven by fear and intimidation, breezy just completely freaks people out!!! And it's funny!! AND, it took me about 5 minutes to be able to differentiate the divorce lawyers from the ambulace chasers from the corporate guys. (So, to Kizzia and Lipsey, I AM listenting when you guys talk law stuff to me!)

Back to story: My job, besides to offer moral support, was to look fetching and distract any other bidders. Mission accomplished people, she now is a home owner!!! I would love to say it's because I looked so sassy, but it's not. Because Jabba the Hutt showed up as the only other bidder and apparently, besides being lacking in grooming department, the circles he runs in, does not deem that it's socially improper to take cell phone calls during an auction, and was distracted enough at himself. (Now, had I been a big and strapping, say blond guy, I might have just gotten "rough" and just taken my $250 assault fine, to be distracting.) Back to "Jabba," I would love to see him somewhere like Sotheby's or Christie's TRY and take a cell phone call, those security guys would have him wrangled and hog-tied in .3!!!

Oh, and for those of you who read this to see how I'm "doing" - thanks so much. Today, I'm fabulously feeling normal and fine. I DID go in for some bloodwork, and let me just brag brag brag on the wonderful Scott G. of the third floor at UT who is just the most stealthy, and painless lab tech in the universe!!!

From the world of Theatre:

The Vagabonds were indeed quite stellar in their finale of the year. If you missed it, you should be sad. Videos are available for viewing at my place, and in fact, a requirement upon admittance, unless you can barter your way out of it with hot wings or ice cream!!! Fear not, I will shamelessly start plugging next season's shows, as soon as I decide upon what they are to be!

The Tony's are June 6th!! Yay! (Shane, email with your picks!!) Right now, I've only got Hugh Jackman down for "Best Actor in a Musical" for "The Boy from Oz."

Happy Weekend!!!

Here kitty kitty....

Good afternoon happy campers!! (that was for Jeff Townsend's benefit by the way).

Today I had a "cat scan." Now while I am very fond of the phrase, "You could swing a cat and hit a...." as in, " In Boston, you could swing a cat and hit a Starbucks." (Which is AMAZINGLY accurate) This has NOTHING to do with cats and scanning, laser-tag-esque guns. IMAGINE my disappointment as I was all ready to play "Lara Croft" and the cats were going to be evil-take-over-the-world-types. (Stacie, this has nothing to do with Bailey, I love him dearly!!!! Suki, though, well that's another story....)

No, no, this started with a (surprise!) IV, ('cause I possibly can't get stuck ENOUGH this summer). Lab techs at UT, have a resoundly LOW tolerance for "crack-den-in-New-York" comments. But please, if two guys had a tourniquet wrapped around your arms and were gleefully commenting over not one, but TWO good veins, will then, you would be tempted to make some analogies yourself!!

Public Service announcement.
On drugs. Let me just say that any person insane enough to willingly and willfully inject themselves on a regular basis with foreign substances is not only a complete imbecile, but should be without hesitation be committed to the Rigoletto Home for the Mentally Incapacitated. In Turin.


Back to the tale; I then got to lay on a bench that slides in a big metal cheerio (I think of "Stargate", but that's just to get you ready for NERD-ALERT forthcoming, and I did not emerege into a parallel universe..), while they pumped a bizarre warming substance into the IV. To all my students that have been asking and WILL ask, I'm not sure if it made me glow or not, oddly enough, I didn't look into a mirror until hours later. Then they took the needle out. I'm always careful to note this and be THANKFUL. However, to add to the list of things I've learned, there's no such thing as a "Band-Aid" that is useful for helping to clot a needle-bleeding. Instead, what they learn in med-tech school (and please know that I really do LIKE the people at UT, they have been lovely!), is to put a pound of cotton and a roll of what might as well be duct-tape. In fact, I might bring in my own duct-tape next time. It would add that whole "east Tennessee" flavor to the look.


Now to the Fall on the Floor Laughing segment:
To spend ANY time with me, is to know that one of my "happy places" (besides Railway Stations in Europe) is a book/coffee cafe (such as Barnes and Noble and Borders)
where I can journal without the home distractions of the West Wing channel (known as Bravo). Usually, I am able to think and write in peace, while taking note of my surroundings and fellow book&coffee junkies. And normally, it's a diverse crowd, but tame. NOT today. Today required National Geographic to document. There was a small, but wild, herd of "Card-gamers", found in comic-book stores and basements and Sci-fi channel conventions everywhere. I have yet to encounter such a herd in these surroundings; it was absolutely fascinating. There was quite a brouhaha, however, as this species apparently anticipates the upcoming DVD release of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and there were boxes of new gaming cards to be opened and bartered over and countless inside Orc-jokes. Truly, I cannot begin to convey the wondrous rituals I observed.



*****Vagabonds - HOW HOW HOW did things go today?? Call/email in ASAP. I know without question that today's show was brilliant and superbly run. I am immensely proud of you all and love and miss you dearly!!!!!

I'd like to be under the sea...

...in an octupus' garden in the shade. I bring up the underwater reference to impart some point of reference for an altered state. However, I will not complain - the battle has begun, my own "Helm's Deep", as it were. Moving onto other subjects...there will be a lovely play performed this week in the area - at William Blount HS, this Thursday (May 20th), at 6pm. If you are reading this, and are in the area - you should definitely go see it. It's about a man who is having a dream he is in several plays and cannot recall having attended a single rehearsal. I'm quite biased, but this is quite a talented group of young thespians who have worked quite hard in the absence of their director.

I would so love to offer some form of intelligent discourse today, but that will have to wait for another day.

Keeeee-moh can be fun!

If you're reading this, then you know where my story is at this point, and if you don't, I'll be sure to catch all up to speed. It is day three of my first round of chemo-therapy and I'm good to go!! Have another round in three weeks (June 2-4). Funny things I learn: A) it is not a good thing to be paraniod about nausea and therefore take anti-nausea meds before a treatment. (If you get sick at the hospital, they can fix it there, don't try to help) and B) don't be paranoid about not eating before a treatment because IF you combine anti-nausea med with not eating and then a three hour "thing" at the hospital (which for all intents and practical purposes, I refer to as the tiki-room), then you end up blacking out, which is all easily remidied with saline solution and peanut butter. Good times.

So thanks to my darling darling friends, what was looking like a summer of locked-down-no-communication-with-the-outside-world, I now have freedom and an outlet in which to share what it's like in my world.

But for now, this Friday night, I'm signing off and going to bed!!

Grace and peace,

Erin