Argh. Back in the swing of things here, ASU-wise, and I can already feel the blog getting crunched by other writerly commitments. Sadness, but ah, well, so it goes. Things are busy - putting the final touches on organizing part of a course from the TA end for the fall semester, working with a fellow student on mouse-models and schizophrenia, trying to do my own reading for long-range thesis-type goals. The usual, and hopefully nothing I can't handle. I have a lecture to give in a couple of weeks for a big (250 or so) lecture course, so that should be exciting. I'll keep you in the loop.
In more body-related news, Ultimate / softball / exercise in general have come to a grinding halt, courtesy of my still-inflamed knee. I've missed a tournament, several practices, and a full night of softball thus far, and I still can't seem to do anything resembling running without extreme discomfort and that fluid-in-the-joint feeling. I saw a sports-med doc (who was great) today on campus, and the good news is that it doesn't seem to be anything ACL-ish or otherwise serious*. I had X-rays taken, and there are calcium deposits in the surgical canal and along the articular cartilage and some signs of arthritis, all of which was expected, but otherwise good joint-spacing and no obvious damage. My physical exam was also normal, but we all know how that can turn out**. So the rule is more rest, ice, and some PT exercises. In the grand scheme it's good news, but I don't know if I'll be able to play wtih Sprawl this year or be ready for the beginning of the VOTS season. Bummer, but I'll survive.
* - Just FTR, I was resigned to retirement if this had turned out to be another ACL injury. This falls under the general category of beating one's head against a wall at this point, plus I really don't want to put the Beck (or myself) through a surgical recovery again. It was an interesting sensation - that clear moment of "well, okay, I'll just ride a bike for exercise from now on" - and I think I was emotionally committed***, even if I was never *really* tested on it. I don't know if I should include some sort of quasi-Buddhist and/or Heat-based sentiments about being able to drop something in 30 seconds, but I achieved, at least in principle, a willingness to let it all go. The actual experience of doing that is probably different from the act of anticipatorally resigning to it, though, so I suppose I shouldn't puff my chest out too far. Still, i think I'm down with the notion that like Lisa's bracelet, athletic endeavors are fleeting.
** - Once upon a time, your hero tore his ACL, only didn't realize it, so he kept running in severe pain for the next month. In that time, his hamstrings got really strong and good at preventing forces from pulling the tibia out of joint. When it all got to be too much, he went in to an orthopedist, full or worry at the prospects of his athletic career. A resident saw him, performed the requisite drawer tests, and concluded that everything was good. At worst it was a meniscus tear, hero should not worry about anything, just relax, he (the resident) not realizing that now power-hammed hero was preventing his (the resident's) feeble arms from eliciting a positive drawer test through sheer protective, unintentional will. The head surgeon waltzed in half an hour later, did the more sensitive and more painful pivot test, revealing that indeed, that tibia was a-floppin' in the breeze, and the leg was acl-less. Lesser men would forever distrust medical science; hero merely had his soul crushed and bemoaned his hopes having been gotten up. The moral of the story is to not always trust a negative drawer sign, but today I managed to completely relax my hammies, and all was good - there was nothing to protect it seemed, so I was not guarding. Huzzah.
*** - Yeah, ha ha, I should be emotionally committed. You're all very clever.
Beck and I have been partaking of the entertainment* of late; I'm a little tired at this juncture and will try to post some reviews later, but we say Funny People, went to a comedy club, and saw District 9 with D&C, all within the last week or so. We also saw the final few (disappointing) episodes of Battlestar Galactica, another show I'll let run through my head a bit more before commenting further upon. This paragraph was half the point of posting tonight, but really, these 5 AM wake-ups are catching up with me.
* - Speaking of partaking of The Entertainment, I should clarify that my post of quotes from the last two weeks of pleasure reading was entirely taken from David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which I reread over the last two weeks. I thought the references to Hal and Orin and the AFR would make that obvious, or at least prompt you to google them, but I admit that was pretty presumptuous of me. Sorry. That's gonna get a big hairy review / commentary in the near future, but in the interim, just know that I continue to recommend this book above all others. Let me put that another way - when I think about my loved ones who have not read this book, it makes my inner child's soul ache. I know it's a huge commitment, I know the writing can be taken as unneccessarily showy, I know the structure all but requires you to read 200 pages before you have half of a clue what's going on, but please, please reconsider your past shortcomings. For me. Many props to Infinite Summer for inspiring the reread. And yes, I will continue to browbeat and guilt you into reading this book. I am unoriginal in this respect.
Alright, big plans for tomorrow. Gotta write. Gotta be coherent. Gotta get to bed now in service of that. Hasta la pasta.
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