January 2008

The following are excerpts from a letter written to my friend Eli about 9 hours before the 2008 NFL conference championships began:
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I seem to be coming out of my December flare, although the right leg is showing more signs of quit than wakey wakey these days. Wishing Rebif was more of a cure than a control, you know?

PeeWee is busy chasing Marcel up and down the hallway at breakneck speed; I’m listening to an album that I recorded a year ago and just got a copy in the mail (Annie Brooks), and I’m vacillating between staying up until this place is spotless and doggie proof (Carol is coming over to watch football tomorrow, with springers in tow) and dealing with the lack of sleep and the lack of motor control that comes with it, OR waiting until morning when I’ll have less time and physical ability to do it, but a somewhat clearer head. Ridiculous.

This recording is one of the most hauntingly beautiful projects I’ve ever been a part of. It’s the last record I did playing my old string bass before I sold it (couldn’t stand and play anymore, much less haul it around). I do miss that bass. But it didn’t go far – a student bought it, with the stipulation that if I ever needed it for a gig/session I was welcome to borrow it anytime. Cool.

Something else cool about this album: One of my old students is on it! Not as a bassist, but as a mandolinist, and singing a duet with Annie. My ex-student’s name is Eva Holbrook, and as of this writing she’s 17, I think. This kid has more talent in her fingernail clippings than I have in my entire family tree. Not to mention that she has one of those ‘looks’ about her that just screams “beautiful soul”. Actually, so does Annie. You’d best watch out for both of them!

Been on Rebif for a little over 2 months now. No discernable change, other than that I’ve noticed my injection sites becoming a little more sore. I keep hoping it will be like waking up from a bad dream: In a few months, I’ll arise with the sun, put my feet on the floor and walk out of the room without so much as a thought concerning the location of my stick/crutch/rollator, and sit down at the computer for a few hours without having my feet turn grey from lack of circulation. Then I’ll have the Bentley brought around and go brewpub hopping with the ultimate in designated drivers. Hey – it COULD happen…

THERE’S something I’ve never understood – how can you have poor circulation in your feet?!? If the blood doesn’t want to pump through your veins, you’d think gravity would take over and draw the blood downward, wouldn’t you? Or is that what’s already happening, and the issue is not having enough oxygen-rich blood feeding the cells in my feet? Maybe that’s it… I’m just going to have to start breathing more. I keep forgetting…

So I just got a pair of forearm crutches – you know, the kind you’d expect Tiny Tim to be using, except these are European style. No medieval-looking clamp around the forearm here; instead, a simple half-cylinder type area for my arm to rest in and allow me to have a little more control over the crutch. I can use one or two at my leisure. They’re going to take a little practice; I had been used to using a walking stick which was considerably longer and required a different wrist angle. But these could be very cool if I get used to it. At least they’ll let me stay upright easier – less bending over at the waist than the stick or the rollator gave me, and if I’m using two crutches, that means 4 points on the ground, 3 of which I can trust. Means a LOT less falling over.

Josh Blue was HILARIOUS on Tuesday! Even got to meet him after the show. Turns out J.W. had already MENTIONED me to him! I tried not to get goosebumps in front of anyone… I wonder if they showed… oh well. Josh was nice enough to give me a signed copy of his DVD. Might have to watch it this weekend after the playoff games are over.

And SPEAKING of which… the SEAHAWKS play the Packers tomorrow at 2:30 local time! I can’t wait – I smell an upset in the making! As a matter of fact, I’m stating here, for the record, that I predict that the Colts will be the only home team this weekend to win a game. At the very least, we will have one upset for sure. Just got a feeling that it’s going to be more than that, and that the Screaming Seachickens of the Northwest will be playing for the right to return to the Super Bowl next weekend. You heard it here first!

Headed off to Denver tonight to see the venerable Josh Blue perform at the Comedy Works. If you’re not familiar with Josh, he’s a brilliant comedian who won Last Comic Standing a couple of years ago. He also has Cerebral Palsy. What’s more, he’s not afraid to use CP to his advantage on stage. He’s hilarious! What’s more, he reminds us all in his own, uh, er, SPECIAL way that people with disabilities don’t need to be pitied – and there’s plenty to laugh about regarding various diseases. Not laugh AT, but laugh ABOUT. And Josh proves it time and again. There are few taboos when it comes to Josh Blue!

The performance is being sponsored by disaboom.com , which is a website dedicated to bringing disabled folks together, and giving them a forum to communicate with each other AND to learn more about their own disease as well as other afflictions, and keep up with the latest research and treatments regarding those diseases, and so on, and so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, etc., etc., etc. It’s a pretty cool place – check it out.

Reason I bring this up is because last Saturday at Elway’s, the CEO (I think that’s right) of disaboom.com came up and introduced himself. It was a wild coincidence – I had just heard of the site days before, and had already joined and made a few posts in the community. AND we had already planned on going to see Josh. And here comes J.W. Roth coming to say hello! Really nice guy, and a great story to tell about why the website got started. (No, not here – you’ll have to peruse the site to find it, or email J.W. yourself and get the story straight from him.)

So the site is cool as it is right now – Tuesday, 1/8/08 – but I hear that in a week’s time things will get much more interesting on the site. So check it out now, but make plans to be back next week. I can’t wait to see what they have in mind! Toodles!