So, when you have Meniere's Disease to the extent that I do, which is to say, nearly what's known as "end stage" Meniere's, treatments are few, far between, and ever more drastic.
The worst of these involves removing all the functioning parts of the inner ear to the affected side. From this point hearing in that ear is impossible. It's a pretty drastic measure.
The next-worst of these is called vestibular neurectomy. It involves severing the vestibular nerve that leads to the affected ear. The hoped result of this treatment is that in severing the vestibular nerve, which is responsible for balance, to that ear, the other ear can then take up the duties both ears once took care of. It's a permanent fix, if it is indeed a fix. It works for a lot of people. At one time, before I was diagnosed with MS, this was the fix we were going to try out. During pre-surgery testing, a caloric-conversion test showed that I had some type of brain damage. It was from that point that my MS was diagnosed. But that's another story. Anyway, because of the brain damage, the oto-neurologist strongly advised to never have the procedure done. I've stuck with that recommendation. I may not have much balance left regarding that ear, but I do have SOME, which is better than none.
The recent vertigo problems had obviously become bad, heading toward severe. The next-line defense against vertigo of my type is injecting steroids directly into the inner ear canal, thus killing the hair cells responsible for balance, and temporarily relieving the vertigo. It also has the unfortunate side effect of causing hearing loss in that ear, but I really didn't have that much to lose to begin with, so bugger that.
Last week the ENT did the steroid injection thing, which has greatly helped. In case you're suffering just a bit of the dizzies and are thinking this sounds like a groovy idea, keep in mind it involves cutting a hole in the ear drum, inserting a needle (after application of deadening agents and peroxide and much suctioning) into the canal and filling it with steroids. It hurts. Rather a lot.
However! The procedure has been very successful, as I am now only having 2 bad days a week as opposed to 4-5 bad days a week. Woot!
I will likely have another treatment of the same next week. Might as well kill as many of those little buggers as possible, right?
Meniere's Disease usually goes into remission after a couple of months. Usually. My case is fairly rare, with the disease seldom going into remission completely. I've lost at least 70% of the hearing in my right ear, with a small amount of loss in the left ear. I have a 30%+ chance of developing Meniere's in my left ear. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's already there since I've got ringing in that ear as well. Did I mention the ringing? My ear has about 5 different ringing tones, varying from a light buzz to one that sounds like those old-fashioned fire alarms you had in school when you were a kid. I've had the ringing since 1995. I thought I was going to lose my mind at first. I learned that a number of people with tinnitus caused by Meniere's actually commit suicide. I can understand that.
I can't say I'd ever kill myself over it, but I get the urge. Totally. You never know how much your balance means to your every day life until you don't have it.
So good-bye balance. I knew ye when....
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Happy Anniversary!
Our anniversary (#23 for all you who doubted us) is on Sunday. Naturally Tom was without a clue as to what to get me. So I helped him out. As any good wife would do.
It has loooong been my dream to be able to design and make my own jewelry. Since I was a kid long. I used to cut pictures of rings and such out of Service Merchandise catalogs and just sit and look at them. It's why I own so much silver jewelry. I love it. I would bathe in it if I could.
A while back I asked a fellow artist/friend if she knew anyone who taught classes in jewelry making. She gave me the name and number of a lady who does so locally. I had the number for a good while but just never followed up on it, figuring that it would be much too expensive to do. Day before yesterday I finally decided to contact her, via email. We discussed the particulars, and the lessons are actually viable. So I told Tom that's what I wanted for our anniversary! To get jewelry lessons! I'm so excited!
It's not actually far afield from my usual request for jewelry, but this time I can make it myself. I'm going to sit down and try to sketch out a few things and see if we can do them during the lessons. I've got a container full of gemstones to use. Squeee!!!
Guess what absolutely everyone is getting for presents from now on?
(Oh. Psssttttt! It's a secret, but I got Tom a leather coat. He's been trolling for one. It's dreamy.)
It has loooong been my dream to be able to design and make my own jewelry. Since I was a kid long. I used to cut pictures of rings and such out of Service Merchandise catalogs and just sit and look at them. It's why I own so much silver jewelry. I love it. I would bathe in it if I could.
A while back I asked a fellow artist/friend if she knew anyone who taught classes in jewelry making. She gave me the name and number of a lady who does so locally. I had the number for a good while but just never followed up on it, figuring that it would be much too expensive to do. Day before yesterday I finally decided to contact her, via email. We discussed the particulars, and the lessons are actually viable. So I told Tom that's what I wanted for our anniversary! To get jewelry lessons! I'm so excited!
It's not actually far afield from my usual request for jewelry, but this time I can make it myself. I'm going to sit down and try to sketch out a few things and see if we can do them during the lessons. I've got a container full of gemstones to use. Squeee!!!
Guess what absolutely everyone is getting for presents from now on?
(Oh. Psssttttt! It's a secret, but I got Tom a leather coat. He's been trolling for one. It's dreamy.)
Monday, February 15, 2016
Say tongue.
Sometimes a word just strikes you as so funny it seems as though it shouldn't be allowed to be a word at all. I was pondering the merits of just such a word one night, and was trying to convey its weirdness to Caity (who just happened to be home for Christmas).
:
Lying in bed, we're watching TV.
Me: Tongue is a weird word. Say it. Say "tongue".
Caity: What? Why?
Me: Say it. Say "tongue".
Caity: You're weird.
Me: Say it. Say "tongue".
Caity: No!
Me: Say it. Say "tongue". Just say it. It's a weird word. Say "tongue".
Caity: No!
Me: SAY IT! Say "tongue".
Caity: No!
Me: Say it! Say "tongue"! Say it!
Caity: Tongue
Me: See? It's it a weird word?
Caity: You're weird.
I know what you're doing now. You're saying "tongue", and thinking about how weird it is, aren't you?
:
Lying in bed, we're watching TV.
Me: Tongue is a weird word. Say it. Say "tongue".
Caity: What? Why?
Me: Say it. Say "tongue".
Caity: You're weird.
Me: Say it. Say "tongue".
Caity: No!
Me: Say it. Say "tongue". Just say it. It's a weird word. Say "tongue".
Caity: No!
Me: SAY IT! Say "tongue".
Caity: No!
Me: Say it! Say "tongue"! Say it!
Caity: Tongue
Me: See? It's it a weird word?
Caity: You're weird.
I know what you're doing now. You're saying "tongue", and thinking about how weird it is, aren't you?
Series books that shouldn't be
Let me just put this out there in the universe:
It really is OKAY to have a one-off book. Not every single book out there needs to have a sequel. No, really, it doesn't. Granted, there are plenty of authors whom I am quite pleased, nay, ecstatic, to have multiple volumes. Ilona Andrews, G.A. Aiken/Laurentston, etc. But they are in the minority for the most part, and they seem to have started their series with the idea that a story should be finished within its pages, then a larger arc residing in the background which the reader can decide if they want to become a part of. Many authors, who really shouldn't be giving up their day jobs, are writing 3 book stories and just taking that leap that assumes we want to slog through their first one. Well gee. We just don't.
Highland Shift by Laura Harner is one such book. It's not that the writing is so very bad, because as far as putting sentences together, she seems relatively able to do that. But her heroine? Oy Vey. I would slap her silly, but she's already there. Once again, we are subjected to the "virgin heroine" syndrome, in which a 20-30 something gorgeous woman has "just never had time" for sex. Buh? Do these people actually exist? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but apparently in genre romance land, the trees are ripe with them. Anyway, within 24 hours of meeting the godlike Scot who has deemed himself her protector and has moved himself into her home, miss never-had-time-for-it has decided he has to be her first. And that it's going to be meaningless sex. So she sets her hat for Mr. Scot, attemtping to seduce him. Within the next 24 hours she has decided, within the same sentence and in this order, that 1) she wants a one-night-stand, and 2) he has made her fall madly in love with him! Oh noes! In one sentence! Freak. And it's not, he's so aweomse I fell in love with him, it's YOU made me fall in love with you. Like it's his fault she's freaking bi-polar. And crazy.
I didn't go any further with this one. I just couldn't after that. I can put up with a lot of stupid, but when the "heroine" blames others for her own shortcomings right off the bat, and practically date-rapes him, well it's just more than I can deal with. This is one of those books that shouldn't have a sequel, and yet, inexplicably, does. Desktop publishing has brought us some wonderful authors over the past few years, but its also brought us garbage like this.
Let's hope it swings back the other direction sometime soon.
It really is OKAY to have a one-off book. Not every single book out there needs to have a sequel. No, really, it doesn't. Granted, there are plenty of authors whom I am quite pleased, nay, ecstatic, to have multiple volumes. Ilona Andrews, G.A. Aiken/Laurentston, etc. But they are in the minority for the most part, and they seem to have started their series with the idea that a story should be finished within its pages, then a larger arc residing in the background which the reader can decide if they want to become a part of. Many authors, who really shouldn't be giving up their day jobs, are writing 3 book stories and just taking that leap that assumes we want to slog through their first one. Well gee. We just don't.
Highland Shift by Laura Harner is one such book. It's not that the writing is so very bad, because as far as putting sentences together, she seems relatively able to do that. But her heroine? Oy Vey. I would slap her silly, but she's already there. Once again, we are subjected to the "virgin heroine" syndrome, in which a 20-30 something gorgeous woman has "just never had time" for sex. Buh? Do these people actually exist? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but apparently in genre romance land, the trees are ripe with them. Anyway, within 24 hours of meeting the godlike Scot who has deemed himself her protector and has moved himself into her home, miss never-had-time-for-it has decided he has to be her first. And that it's going to be meaningless sex. So she sets her hat for Mr. Scot, attemtping to seduce him. Within the next 24 hours she has decided, within the same sentence and in this order, that 1) she wants a one-night-stand, and 2) he has made her fall madly in love with him! Oh noes! In one sentence! Freak. And it's not, he's so aweomse I fell in love with him, it's YOU made me fall in love with you. Like it's his fault she's freaking bi-polar. And crazy.
I didn't go any further with this one. I just couldn't after that. I can put up with a lot of stupid, but when the "heroine" blames others for her own shortcomings right off the bat, and practically date-rapes him, well it's just more than I can deal with. This is one of those books that shouldn't have a sequel, and yet, inexplicably, does. Desktop publishing has brought us some wonderful authors over the past few years, but its also brought us garbage like this.
Let's hope it swings back the other direction sometime soon.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
That Vertigo Thing
Yeah, kayso, I'm dealing with some vertigo right now. Like scrolling the screen literally makes me feel as if I'm going to fall off the sofa. It's an old song, but one that still plays on, even though the record is severely scratched.
I think what set it off today was being in a warm environment (my studio) and going out into a cold environment (outside). The temp difference I guess confuses the inner ear and then away we go. It's kind of like having a caloric conversion test. The one the ENT gives you where they swirl hot or cold water into your ear and it makes you feel as though you're going to fall off the table. It's my very favorite one. Kind of makes you leery of hot and cold running water.
Had a relatively productive day in the studio. I actually started glazing a kiln load of pots and such. I had to vacuum out the kiln since I had an exploding piece of greenware last load. The shards went all the way to the top rows of coils, which is not a cool thing at all. Kind of shortens the life of your very expensive coils. I had to hang over the side of the kiln, looking like Winnie the Pooh stuck in the honey tree. I kid you not. And to facilitate all that, I had to take the shop vac apart and clean it because it was apparently pissed about having not had that done. Dust everywhere. But it's done.
We also had more visitors today than we've had all week, which is good and sad at the same time. I wish we had more traffic. I'm thinking the publicist needs to get on the ball.
And that is the end of my very uninteresting thing. You know. Blah blah blah fishcakes.
I bid you adieu.
I think what set it off today was being in a warm environment (my studio) and going out into a cold environment (outside). The temp difference I guess confuses the inner ear and then away we go. It's kind of like having a caloric conversion test. The one the ENT gives you where they swirl hot or cold water into your ear and it makes you feel as though you're going to fall off the table. It's my very favorite one. Kind of makes you leery of hot and cold running water.
Had a relatively productive day in the studio. I actually started glazing a kiln load of pots and such. I had to vacuum out the kiln since I had an exploding piece of greenware last load. The shards went all the way to the top rows of coils, which is not a cool thing at all. Kind of shortens the life of your very expensive coils. I had to hang over the side of the kiln, looking like Winnie the Pooh stuck in the honey tree. I kid you not. And to facilitate all that, I had to take the shop vac apart and clean it because it was apparently pissed about having not had that done. Dust everywhere. But it's done.
We also had more visitors today than we've had all week, which is good and sad at the same time. I wish we had more traffic. I'm thinking the publicist needs to get on the ball.
And that is the end of my very uninteresting thing. You know. Blah blah blah fishcakes.
I bid you adieu.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Dead Ice by Laurell Hamilton
Okay, first of all I applaud Hamilton's effort to actually have a story line this time around. Tried is the operative word here. There actually IS a story in there somewhere. And it might have been a good one, had she stuck to it.
Unfortunately, she spends a LOT of pages describing her various relationships with her various lovers. We get it. She screws a lot of people and it's okay because blah blah blah. Free love. Whatever. Quit trying to justify all the sexual partners and just get on with the story. Because there actually IS one here. It's just that it occupies fewer than three chapters of the book.
Quit trying to pad with book with extraneous crap and get on with the story. I'd rather have a 200 page book with actual action in it than 400 pages of relationship descriptions with various men/women.
Sadly, for me this attempt is too little too late. Anita Blake was an interesting character at one time. Truly. She was human, flawed, grumpy, and sexy. In fewer than 3 books she quit slaying vampires and zombies and started having sex with them. All. I think the notion was that she was supposed to be Buffy Summers, all grown up. Wannabe. Hamilton tries for erotica and only ends up with...squishy. Just gross body fluids everywhere.
This is the last of the Anita Blake series for me. There is simply too much crap to put up with for too little payout. Sorry Anita. We knew ye when...
Unfortunately, she spends a LOT of pages describing her various relationships with her various lovers. We get it. She screws a lot of people and it's okay because blah blah blah. Free love. Whatever. Quit trying to justify all the sexual partners and just get on with the story. Because there actually IS one here. It's just that it occupies fewer than three chapters of the book.
Quit trying to pad with book with extraneous crap and get on with the story. I'd rather have a 200 page book with actual action in it than 400 pages of relationship descriptions with various men/women.
Sadly, for me this attempt is too little too late. Anita Blake was an interesting character at one time. Truly. She was human, flawed, grumpy, and sexy. In fewer than 3 books she quit slaying vampires and zombies and started having sex with them. All. I think the notion was that she was supposed to be Buffy Summers, all grown up. Wannabe. Hamilton tries for erotica and only ends up with...squishy. Just gross body fluids everywhere.
This is the last of the Anita Blake series for me. There is simply too much crap to put up with for too little payout. Sorry Anita. We knew ye when...
That new book reviewing thing I'm trying...
I know, I know. I talk a lot and deliver a little. But I do try. Sometimes.
So here is my obsession du jour: I'm going to review the books I read and post the reviews here. And if I ever figure out how to do it, I'll link this to Goodreads. If.
My reading material is, by and large, fantasy related. The Enthrall series I reviewed this same day is my first foray into doing reviews. Let's just see how that flies.
I signed up for Book Bub a couple of weeks ago. It's been a boon, and more importantly, a FREE boon! I've picked up some free books by authors I would never have considered trying before, because, let's face it, it was free. I'm all about some free. The upshot of all this, besides the free thing, is that I'm broadening my horizons. I've also realized I need to read more "thinky" books. I've gotten very lazy in my reading, preferring to escape into fantasy worlds rather than deal with anything, well, real. I'm going to make an effort to take care of that. Promise.
In the meantime, I'm going to offer a couple of reviews of books I've read recently. Or maybe not so recently, but still worth a mention. And maybe this will sort of force me to get back into my blogging again. I didn't realize I hadn't touched this thing for almost two years. Not since Dad died. I've been in a weird headspace because of all that, as one might imagine. Now I've got a very precious stepmom who will not be around for very much longer, so I've got to revisit that whole little hell again. See? Why the fantasy world?
Anyway. There it is. Have fun. Feel free to disagree. I welcome it.
So here is my obsession du jour: I'm going to review the books I read and post the reviews here. And if I ever figure out how to do it, I'll link this to Goodreads. If.
My reading material is, by and large, fantasy related. The Enthrall series I reviewed this same day is my first foray into doing reviews. Let's just see how that flies.
I signed up for Book Bub a couple of weeks ago. It's been a boon, and more importantly, a FREE boon! I've picked up some free books by authors I would never have considered trying before, because, let's face it, it was free. I'm all about some free. The upshot of all this, besides the free thing, is that I'm broadening my horizons. I've also realized I need to read more "thinky" books. I've gotten very lazy in my reading, preferring to escape into fantasy worlds rather than deal with anything, well, real. I'm going to make an effort to take care of that. Promise.
In the meantime, I'm going to offer a couple of reviews of books I've read recently. Or maybe not so recently, but still worth a mention. And maybe this will sort of force me to get back into my blogging again. I didn't realize I hadn't touched this thing for almost two years. Not since Dad died. I've been in a weird headspace because of all that, as one might imagine. Now I've got a very precious stepmom who will not be around for very much longer, so I've got to revisit that whole little hell again. See? Why the fantasy world?
Anyway. There it is. Have fun. Feel free to disagree. I welcome it.
Enthrall Series by Vanessa Fewings
The Enthrall series consists of 5 books in all, and although the last
two- Cameron's Control and Cameron's Contract- are technically part of a
separate series, you can't read one without the other. So to speak.
The journey begins with wide-eyed Mia (from whose point of view we are seeing the story) going to work for a secret, high-end BDSM club. Okay, let me put this out there in the universe. Is there some secret mandate that says ALL heroines MUST BE VIRGINS? wtf? What's wrong with a woman of experience? Huh? Huh?
Okay, mini-rant over. Anyway, Mia goes to work for Enthrall. The reasons are myriad that influence Mia's journey into the BDSM world, reasons I'm not going to tell you because that's part of the fun. But things are not always what they seem at first look. Mia falls for Richard, the club's dom. Sexual situations ensue. So much fun, and actual heart-rending emotional connections are made with the characters.
Enthrall Her (which oddly was difficult for me to acquire because of a link issue with B&N, but I digress) brings Mia further into the world of Enthrall and Chrysalis. Characters from Enthrall are here and doing their joyfully hedonistic best to make LA an interesting kind of town. They succeed. Cameron is called upon to...erm..assist Mia become a better sub to Richard. Part of this process is dealing with her incredibly crappy childhood, or lack thereof. The section is heartbreaking and triumphant at the same time. Enthrall Her doesn't end here, however. It's just a brilliant lead-in to...
Enthrall Him. Cameron gets as good as he's given. A frantic escape from a menacing businessman bring Mia and Cameron closer together as they flee to Europe. As anyone knows, urgent situations create urgent relationships. Mia and Richard's relationship is scrutinized under the microscope of Cameron's burgeoning feelings for his friend's sub. An uneasy situation at best. Honestly, I cried a little. At erotica. Because let's face it, this is an action/adventure/romance with some BDSM thrown in. And that's just dandy with me.
Cameron's Control and Cameron's Contract (written from Cameron's POV) continue the fun and the suspense ratchets up. Tension is rife in the Cameron/Mia/Richard dynamic, and one never quite knows what's going to happen. The psychological tension Fewings creates is believable and thrilling.
Like I stated in my first post, I'm not going to iterate the entire series' plots, etc. I say all the above to say things like this: Fewings has accomplished what Laurell Hamilton has only dreamed of doing. Creating a series that combines action/adventure/suspense/eroticism in a way that leaves the reader desperately wanting more. Her characters are fresh, original, intelligent, and believable. Which is frankly difficult to do with one of these "billionaire meets virgin" genre books. I mean seriously, booksellers, smashwords, whoeverthehell who publishes are rife with these books. I've read, or started reading, a few of them. And then stopped. Either the characters left me utterly cold, or the attempts to be sexy or sexual just fell so flat as to be a huge turn-off. I again reference Laurell Hamilton.
I am now a huge fan of Vanessa Fewings. Have I mentioned the role BookBub has played here? I received Enthrall for free from BookBub and was hooked on the series. The Bub does a great service to authors and readers alike. Had I not received the freebie, I would never have read the rest of this exciting series, and I wouldn't have a brand-new favorite author. So, if you've not signed up for BookBub, I highly encourage it. And did I mention? The free stuff? Free!
The journey begins with wide-eyed Mia (from whose point of view we are seeing the story) going to work for a secret, high-end BDSM club. Okay, let me put this out there in the universe. Is there some secret mandate that says ALL heroines MUST BE VIRGINS? wtf? What's wrong with a woman of experience? Huh? Huh?
Okay, mini-rant over. Anyway, Mia goes to work for Enthrall. The reasons are myriad that influence Mia's journey into the BDSM world, reasons I'm not going to tell you because that's part of the fun. But things are not always what they seem at first look. Mia falls for Richard, the club's dom. Sexual situations ensue. So much fun, and actual heart-rending emotional connections are made with the characters.
Enthrall Her (which oddly was difficult for me to acquire because of a link issue with B&N, but I digress) brings Mia further into the world of Enthrall and Chrysalis. Characters from Enthrall are here and doing their joyfully hedonistic best to make LA an interesting kind of town. They succeed. Cameron is called upon to...erm..assist Mia become a better sub to Richard. Part of this process is dealing with her incredibly crappy childhood, or lack thereof. The section is heartbreaking and triumphant at the same time. Enthrall Her doesn't end here, however. It's just a brilliant lead-in to...
Enthrall Him. Cameron gets as good as he's given. A frantic escape from a menacing businessman bring Mia and Cameron closer together as they flee to Europe. As anyone knows, urgent situations create urgent relationships. Mia and Richard's relationship is scrutinized under the microscope of Cameron's burgeoning feelings for his friend's sub. An uneasy situation at best. Honestly, I cried a little. At erotica. Because let's face it, this is an action/adventure/romance with some BDSM thrown in. And that's just dandy with me.
Cameron's Control and Cameron's Contract (written from Cameron's POV) continue the fun and the suspense ratchets up. Tension is rife in the Cameron/Mia/Richard dynamic, and one never quite knows what's going to happen. The psychological tension Fewings creates is believable and thrilling.
Like I stated in my first post, I'm not going to iterate the entire series' plots, etc. I say all the above to say things like this: Fewings has accomplished what Laurell Hamilton has only dreamed of doing. Creating a series that combines action/adventure/suspense/eroticism in a way that leaves the reader desperately wanting more. Her characters are fresh, original, intelligent, and believable. Which is frankly difficult to do with one of these "billionaire meets virgin" genre books. I mean seriously, booksellers, smashwords, whoeverthehell who publishes are rife with these books. I've read, or started reading, a few of them. And then stopped. Either the characters left me utterly cold, or the attempts to be sexy or sexual just fell so flat as to be a huge turn-off. I again reference Laurell Hamilton.
I am now a huge fan of Vanessa Fewings. Have I mentioned the role BookBub has played here? I received Enthrall for free from BookBub and was hooked on the series. The Bub does a great service to authors and readers alike. Had I not received the freebie, I would never have read the rest of this exciting series, and I wouldn't have a brand-new favorite author. So, if you've not signed up for BookBub, I highly encourage it. And did I mention? The free stuff? Free!
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