it's not about the weather

thunderstorms rolled through magnolia last night and this morning.

the weather is completely unblog-worthy, i realize, but in this case i'm making an exception because thunder is exceptional in our little part of the universe.

the little spaceneedls were all set up for some saturday night camping in the front yard. dome tent, sleeping bags, lanterns, nintendo DS's. lightning flashed in the distance, and thunder rumbled several seconds later. the little needls were in the door before the first rumble ended.

thus endeth the camp-out.

related note: sometime during the evening the boy broke the zipper on his sleeping bag. nice, semi-expensive sleeping bag, too. i just finished repairing said zipper. i'm not sure how. i'm still taking credit, however.

* * * * *

the republicans across the alley made a big show recently of installing a flag pole and hoisting an american flag. very patriotic, they are. i notice, however, that they fly the flag when it rains. and at night, without a spotlight.

ostentatious flag flying without flag etiquette. so very republican.

* * * * *

i recently stumbled across a web site dedicated to our neighborhood. magnolia voice, it's called, quite cleverly.

it offers up some garden variety news about goings-on in the neighborhood, which is all well and good. we do live in the neighborhood, after all. it would be unseemly to cast aspersions at the good intentions of the magnolia voicers.

the best thing about the site is the restaurants compendium. the reviews by gladys and abner are schmaltzy nice, but the commentary that follows is a feeding frenzy of snarling vitriol.

"szmania’s is great!"
"szmania’s is horrible!"
"you're an idiot."
"how dare you question my opinions?!"
"stop stalking me."
"the corned beef and cabbage is AMAZING."
"the corned beef and cabbage tasted like warmed up spam."
"i'm the owner of szmania’s, and all these negative comments are totally uncalled-for."
"well, you're obviously an unbiased source."

and so on.

we've eaten at most of these places, so reading the reviews ex post facto is very entertaining.

related note: we've eaten at szmania’s, as well, and it was the height of average. the food was okay, the service was indifferent, and we would've liked to have paid less for the well-practiced averageness.

we haven't been back, despite the fact that the place is incredibly convenient.

* * * * *

i took a hamster to the vet today. i kid you not.

the little rat has some kind of fur-ravaging dermatitis, and the vet gave it a shot of antibiotics.

later, i quietly put the receipt on the kitchen table and asked mrs. spaceneedl, "how much did you spend on this creature at the store?" it was not a rhetorical question.

later she noticed the bill: office visit, $68.00

"are you effing kidding me?" she asked. "sixty-eight dollars for a hamster appointment? that's effing ridiculous!"

later still: "we're not spending any more money on that effing thing. you're on your own, hamster."

we swear a lot at our house lately.

related note: it was not my idea to acquire rodents in the first place, nor to take this one to the vet. that was done on behalf of the girl, who is quite attached to her hamsters. except when it comes to giving them food and water, or cleaning their cages.

* * * * *

thunder is rolling through magnolia again this evening.

most unusual.

the game will go on without me

pursuant to my previous post, and all that talk about medial collateral damage, yada yada...

never mind.

i just got the results of an MRI done last thursday, and i'm pleased to report only an MCL contusion, which is really just a bruise.

the downside is, that's in combination with a torn ACL, a lateral tibial microfracture, and a baker's cyst.

this combination is not so good.

at this point we'll take a short break to drop a couple f-bombs:

fuck.

fucking hell.

we now return you to your regularly scheduled post.

this afternoon i'll get a referral to a sports medicine specialist, which no doubt will lead to a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon.

i don't like the idea of surgery. i like the thought of an unstable knee even less. so if surgery is prescribed, i'll get it done.

in the meantime, i'll continue to do what i can. ride the bike, lift the weights, walk to the farmer's market.

why does it suddenly feel like i'm 70 years old?

* * * * *

update: as it turns out, according to the diagnostic report from the MRI, there's a microfracture in the fibula, as well. to sum up, that's one acl tear, two microfractures, one baker's cyst, and a [f-bomb] partridge in a [f-bomb variation] pear tree.

medial collateral damage

it was inevitable, i suppose.

years of wear and tear and hyperactive activities greatly increased the odds that one day i'd wind up with a bad wheel.

last wednesday i was playing lunchtime pick-up basketball at the ymca. one of the knuckleheads jumped out to defend as i came around a pick, and stuck his knee into the side of my right knee. he was no worse for the wear, but my knee kinda caved in, and i dropped like a rock.

i'm not a quitter, so eventually i got up, tested it out, and thought i could continue. that lasted one trip down the court, when the knee shifted under me in a painful, disconcerting way. i dropped a few f-bombs and hobbled to the sideline.

the game went on without me.

the next, obvious thing to do would've been to seek medical attention--but i had tickets to the mariners game that night, and a video shoot in edmonton, alberta, thursday and friday. i had no time for a debilitating knee injury.

a quick google search of my symptoms led me to diagnose a grade II medial collateral ligament tear.

"...the MCL is usually injured when the outside of the knee joint is struck. This action causes the outside of the knee to buckle, and the inside to widen. When the medial collateral ligament is stretched too far, it is susceptible to tearing and injury."

yes, that sounds familiar. reading further, in addition to pain and pressure on the mcl...

"Grade II injuries are considered incomplete tears of the MCL. These patients may complain of instability when attempting to cut or pivot. The pain and swelling is more significant, and usually a period of 3-4 weeks of rest is necessary."

oh, yeah. i got all of that. the most disturbing thing is the instability. every so often, walking up stairs or just turning to go a different direction, the knee feels like it's going to buckle out from under me. i can't have that. a buckling leg is inconvenient and unacceptable.

with lots of ice and anti-inflammatories, i got through the baseball game, the travel, and the video shoot. now, four days post-injury, my body is craving some aerobic exercise...but i'm not sure what it'll tolerate. something no-impact, requiring zero lateral movement. jai alai, bull fighting and acrobatic sex are out, i guess.

much as i dislike the idea of giving up lunchtime hoops, perhaps it's time to switch to less-debilitating workouts. like yoga. and tai chi. and cycling the burke-gilman trail.

it's inevitable, i suppose. at some point i have to reconcile the hard fact that i'm not quite as indestructable as i used to be.

and that, much as i hate the thought of it -- the game will go on without me.

dammit jim, i was wrong again...

awhile back i wrote about the new star trek movie, and it's possible i may have been less than enthusiastic about it...

"i ain't down with this. not one bit.

paramount studios is gearing up to shoot a new "star trek" movie, featuring the characters from the original series.

not the original actors, mind you. same characters, different faces.

i'm a big fan of the star trek franchise. i have been, i realize, for decades. so i should be happy to see another installment, with an all-new (old) enterprise brought to life with the latest digital legerdemain.

but i'm not."

i was wrong.

the new star trek is magnificent.

all my blather about the new movie being "...pointless. and lame. and diminish(ing) the franchise" ?

way wrong. a couple of hours in the theater and suddenly, for me, it's not a franchise. it's a phenomenon.

i'll spare you my glowing praise of the story and the excellence of the cast. most everybody beat me to it anyway.

but for the record, the cast, young as they are, did the old people proud. deforest kelly and james doohan can rest easy, as their signature roles are in good hands.

the writers even figured out how to incorporate ensign chekov into the crew, even though he would've been way too young to hang out with the young kirk and spock.

added bonus feature: i took the little needls to see the movie with me. it's entirely possible they've been assimilated as well. one can hope.

which is really what four decades of star trek have been about.

hang up and drive...

show of hands: who here has been ticketed for CPTWD (cell-phone-talking while driving)?

besides me, i mean.

my day was going so well, too. it was friday, it was sunny, and it was nearly beer o'clock. i had some time at lunch, so i was headed to nordstrom rack to check out the deeply discounted close-out items. because i never pay retail.

the phone rang, it was the neighbor calling. was she wanting to schedule family pizza night, as is our wont on fridays? let's find out. "hello? this and that, yada yada, bla bla bla...hang on, there's a motorcycle cop behind me. hang on, he's telling me to turn off my cell phone. hang on, he's pulling me over. i gotta go."

i pulled into the parking lot at the mall. taking stock...was i talking on the phone while driving? yes, i was. did i commit some other egregious infraction? i have no idea. this is an important question, as washington state cops aren't supposed to pull you over just for phoning-while-driving.

here he comes..."sir, you were going a little too fast, and you were talking on your phone. license please."

i couldn't think of a thing to say. so i cleverly replied, "i see. sure..." he was impressed by my quick-witted repartee, i bet.

here he comes again. "registration, please, sir."

this and that, yada yada, bla bla bla...here's your very expensive ticket for phone talking. have a nice day.

and, there he goes. folks, how about a hand for the nice man with the gun?

let's assess the damage...$124 for the phone thing, and...no ticket for speeding? hang on...i mean, that's the whole premise for the pull-over. don't get me wrong, i'm happy not to have the gift-with-purchase. but why the one, but not the other? was it my winning smile? my charming demeanor? uh-huh. sure it was.

still perplexed about the mysteries of law enforcement, and with the contents of my entire glove box strewn about the front of the car, i made my way to nordstrom rack.

but as much as i like finding a bargain, my heart wasn't in it. suddenly anything i might've bought was an additional $124. that's like paying retail plus dealer mark-up. which is no deal at all.

i left empty-handed.

now i have to figure out how to recoup the fine and get back to even. or reconcile myself to a really expensive pack of gum. something.

how much is one of those bluetooth hands-free earpiece devices? those must be at least $124, don'tcha think?

i can probably got one of those at work.

for free.

seasonality

summer came early to magnolia this year.

the weather took a turn for the blissful, and the farmers market opened ahead of tradition.

these are both very good things.

it's never too soon to be able to throw on shorts and a t-shirt and go outside without risking hypothermia. in seattle, that day is usually july 5th. this is more of a problem with each passing year, as the desire to be warm increasingly becomes a biological imperative.

the farmers market is part of our summer routine. we walk to the village, attend to an errand or two, pick up coffee at the bakery, then make our way through this week's vendors.

there's a seafood stand this year. another offers fresh soups. smoked salmon, northwest chowder, and a thick slice of foccacia make a pretty good (and easy) dinner. an excellent glass (or three) of blue sky pinot noir doesn't hurt one bit.

some things you do out of habit, some out of a sense of order. some you go back to after a few months because they're timeless and comforting. we need these things to counter the uncertain and the unknown, which are always in abundance.

seasons change, people come and go. the farmers market endures.

thalassic haunts

i dreamed about swimming with sharks last night.

unlike swimming in a cage off oahu, this was kinda scary.

i have no idea what it means, but the feeling in the dream was that an attack was imminent.

i woke up before it happened.

in the cage, you could see treble fishhooks trailing from various shark appendages. this was an interesting detail to notice, given that rows of shark teeth were within easy reach. in the dream, the details weren't as obvious, but the sense of danger was far more heightened.

go figure.

no, really. what does it mean? or do dreams mean anything? are they just artifacts of a late dinner and a little extra fatigue? or is something more going on?

i have no idea. all i know is, i woke up a little shaken, and it took awhile to fall back to sleep.

meanwhile, i'm having a hard time influencing events swirling around me. i'm not used to this, even though i realize, deep down, that "control" is an illusion.

wait...now i get it.

nevermind.