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The Right Shall Rise Again

No, this has nothing to do with the new senator in Massachusetts. I’m talking about my brain! The right hemisphere has taken over and I am creating like a demon!

Why I have headaches!

As I mentioned, I’m not taking a computer programming class this semester. And apparently dropping that Rails class threw a switch in my brain! Not only has the right hemisphere taken back control of my brain, it erected a wall one night while I was sleeping. The left hemisphere has been shut out. And is in black-out conditions. I can’t even think about programming and websites. Which is a shame because I do have some coding work to do. But everytime I think about it, things get kinda of fuzzy and I suddenly have an idea for an art project! Weird huh? I seem to to be functioning  in a very strict either/or mode. Long gone are the days of thinking in if/else statements. Now I ponder whether the highlights on that stamp should be silver or gold. I like it. And since the creative muse if often fleeting, I’m gonna ride this wave as long as it lasts.

(and please note that language is a left-brain trait)

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Programmed to self-destruct

Hmm. Remember last year when I declared I was never going to take another programming class ever again?! Yeah. Well, last month when I said I was starting my Programming with PHP class, why didn’t you gently remind me of this? Hell, why didn’t you just start hitting me over the head with a toaster?!!

At first I thought things were going to be ok. PHP seemed to make a lot more sense than JavaScript ever did. But that optimism was short lived and PHP done went and broke my brain this past weekend! I spent most of Saturday trying to get my little program to work. As my head was starting to ache, I finally gave up and went to bed completely frustrated. So it was no surprise when I woke up Sunday morning with a wicked bad migraine. Fun. Of course my assignment was due Sunday at 11pm. At 8pm, after another nap, I turned on the computer. As if that wasn’t painful enough, I gave my program another couple attempts – nope, wasn’t happening. I just could not figure it out. Had to turn it in anyways. Double ouch.

Yesterday I started the next assignment, which includes having to read 5 chapters! I read 2 and called Chris. I was not getting it. He ordered me to go the bookstore to get another book on the subject. And I’m pretty sure that’s going to help. Seriously. What didn’t help was taking Kyle with me. Damn, that boy would not shut up! So I bought him ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. “No, I will not buy you the whole series tonight!”  – jeez. And then Kyle fell in love with the dude working the cash register. Ok, maybe not “in love” but he certainly seemed to like him. The guy – who kind of had a shorn Seth Rogan thing going on – commented that Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a classic and one of his favorite books! He then agreed with Kyle that I must have spent my childhood living under a rock because I’ve never read ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. sorry. And then (and I missed this) the dude put his hands together and gave us a little bow! And Kyle thought that was the coolest thing ever. I heard about it the whole way home. We also discussed when and how the Buddha gained enlightenment. Kyle kills me. What a kook.

And because I know you are as worried about my grade as I am, I am happy to report that the teacher email me back saying that I was really close. Gave me a couple pointers and voila! I got the program to work. I am ashamed to admit how happy this made me.

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Feelin’ uninspired. Think I’ll start a fire…

The left hemisphere of my brain has been ruling the roost lately and it’s left me very quiet. Not one little ounce of inspiration to write anything about everything that’s going on. My creative muse has been trapped under my 5 lb Dreamweaver book. And then, last Friday morning, the right hemisphere of my brain tried to stage a coup and almost killed me in the process with another wicked migraine. Stupid brain. But on Saturday the visual part of the design process kicked back into gear, so maybe we can get a little balance here.

I’ve been immersed in pools and code. Car pools, swimming pools, test servers, databases! No wonder I’m feeling a bit stretched out. And I went and signed up for another class at Sierra College in the fall. Web Programming with PHP. Oh yes, this should be fun for all of us. JavaScript was fun right?! It only broke my brain and ruined my eyesight. But apparently everything I want to do is done with PHP, so what’s a girl to do but learn another programming language. Joy.

But classes don’t start until next month. Before then I really need to get my shit together. Life without Positron is turning out to be a hard adjustment. I don’t know how to manage my time yet. With swim lessons and soccer camp complicating the mix, I haven’t had a chance to get into any kind of routine. I feel like I should be “working” at every minute. I’m still trying to do too many things at once and am not getting anything finished. Well, I’ve gotten a few tasks completed, but not that damn resume.

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And the ones that mother gives you. Don’t do anything at all…

Hmpf. This blog needs a new post. I finally have a little breathing room this morning while I wait for IT to call back, and what do you know- I feel like crap. I’m border-line contemplating getting a headache. So, fun for you. Buckle up. Odds are this will make no sense at all. Hmm, I wonder if Bob Mould is on Twitter. No. So onward for better or worse. Ya know, somewhere there is a smart-part of my brain that is shouting “take the pill now!” I’ve heard it’s message faintly a couple times this morning. I suspect that part of my brain is being sat on by the ‘you-only-get-6-pills-a-month’ pill-horder part of my brain. The same part that has enough vicodin to choke a cow stashed away in the bathroom, but never sent up the suggestion to take some while I was suffering excruciating pain pre-ER visit last month. Yeah, that part. The evil s.o.b. part of my brain. Oh dear, this is not going well. Must focus.

So, last Friday was a good day. I had planned to write a nice post on Friday afternoon, telling you all about this wonderful chickpea sandwich that had brought me one step closer to world domination. But no. As soon as I got home – woosh! I was swept away by Chris’s Big Weekend Project. His plan is to get rid of our storage unit. To do that we need to make room in the garage for the stuff from storage. Of course this can only happen after a giant purge of crap that we no longer need. So Chris started to go through all the boxes and sort the things we wanted to keep and the crap to toss or items to donate. Now, my possessions were already pretty streamlined. But Chris has been luggin’ around a lot of stuff. Like all his college text books! All of them! To the dump they go! In fact much stuff went to the dump. Two van loads of stuff. And then a van load of stuff went to Goodwill. That’s a lot of stuff!

It was a weekend trippin’ down memory lane. Chris looking through boxes of old climbing mags – literally – boxes! Photos. I won’t even mention the love notes from high-school girl friends. Yikes. I went through all my old artwork. Whoa, the Blurry years watercolor phase is some seriously weird shit. Sadly for you, I didn’t think to pull out the camera and photograph any of it. Now it is all repacked is nice new portfolios and back up on the shelf. But my old canvases are still to come back from storage so we have that to look forward too. I’m sure that some twisted stuff in that stack too. I did find the self portrait I painted while I was going to Wayne State. I don’t think Chris will let me hang it in the house.

So, the point – yeah, like there is a point to any of this! – is that we worked in the garage all weekend. And we got a lot done – beside my canvases, a couples chairs and the shelves, the storage unit is empty! But my thoughts of world domination were lost. And when I got back to work on Monday, I was faced with an email migration that still is not working right. So blah. What’s a girl to do? I babbling on one monitor and staring at this on the other.

All while waiting for someone from the IT dept Helpdesk to call me back. It could happen.

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Stop Making Sense

Welcome to day 6 of my headache. I thought I was feeling well enough to finally type out some of the mad thoughts bouncing around in my head. Because whenever there is a lull in the migraine pain, my brain always perks right up thinking it time to get busy! Doesn’t care if its 2 in the morning when the meds and sleep have finally done their job, if the pain is gone, the brain does a few warm up stretches and gets to work! “Let’s think about next semester’s classes, write a few emails, hey – how about a blog post?!” Stupid brain.

But now that I’m here in front of my computer, all I want to know is why I can’t change the “page” in Office to a nice 18% gray instead of white. Cause my eyes are watering and I’m thinking maybe I should just go back to bed.

OK, I went and got my sunglasses. That should give me just enough time to tell you that on Tuesday, day 1 of the HeadacheWeekFromHell-Oct08, during a telephone call with the Sain’t, I told him that I hoped a pony would poop on his shoe. Don’t mess with me when I’m in pain yo.

And then on Friday I sent my family to Santa Cruz without me. And it wasn’t a ‘happy happy joy joy I’m all alone for a weekend’ stay behind. And that pisses me off. But anger hurts my head so I was stuck with being sad all weekend.

The End.

But come back and I’ll tell you how my sick brain can connect Rachel Zoe with William Burroughs!

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Why I’m not a doctor.

I’ve decided that my Cough ™ is construction induced. As soon as they finish the re-model of the bathrooms in my office building, I will be cured! And if things do not work out that way I’m gonna be very displeased.

I’ve also recently diagnosed my migraines as a casualty of the constant battle between the right and left sides of my brain. A cruel and gory battle to determine which hemisphere will reign supreme! The Artist or the Geek. I really am a conundrum.

Now I must admit that I can never remember which side does what, so I’ll have to look it up. Be right back…

Interesting.
This was the first page I open after a Google search:
http://www.web-us.com/BRAIN/LRBrain.html *
And now I know that it was my right hemisphere that was in tears in Chemistry class. Damn moles. I ‘got’ the math; I just wanted to know why I was doing it!

And then I took 2 different “Hemisphere Dominance Tests” and got a different result for each test! Either I am extremely well balanced, or I’m screwed up beyond measure! Actually there were some questions with both answers were right. So the battle rages on…

And I know that both halves of my brain are working together, and that every person has a dominant side, and this is not the reason for my headaches. But I like the imagery of an epic battle in my head. Migraines that are just hormonal, let-down or stress-related aren’t very exciting are they? Semi-predictable and boring and forever pissing me off, but nothing to write home about.

* Hey – the geek in me wants you to know that I could break down this url into all its parts for you thanks to Chapter 2 of the textbook from hell. Or I could draw you a diagram…