Saturday, May 13, 2006
Re-learning how to spell "knickknacks" and other updates....
Am discovering more and more lately that I have forgotten how to spell certain words. This is a bit embarrassing for someone who competed in the Colorado/Wyoming state spelling as a child (I placed 26th) and who until last year earned a living proofreading. It does, however, come with the territory if one has fibromyalgia. We like to joke around about "fibro-fog", but the reality is that our mental processing speed and memory match someone 20 years older. Now, what I'm wondering is: would the average 62 year old know how to spell "knickknacks"? Because I completely forgot yesterday. I put the word in my blog entry, hesitated, almost looked it up in the dictionary, and then decided that it looked right spellled "knicknacks". Then, while putting items in a U-Haul dish pack box, I noticed that the derned word was on the side of the box! For the life of me, I could swear that it never contained two "k"s in a row, but I just looked it up in Webster's and confirmed it.
Yeah, I know it's a trivial thing, but it's just one example of mental processes that are slipping out of my grasp. I used to be able to pride myself on knowing that even on days when I didn't write well in terms of creativity, at least my grammar and spelling were correct. Now, if I go back and read old blog entries, chances are about 90 percent I will have misspelled something, left a word out, used improper grammar or even used the incorrect form of a word (like "their" when I mean "they're"). I do re-read what I've written before I post, but these days, I can look at a glaring error and my mind still thinks it's correct. Part of it is that my typing has become quite dyslexic. The other is that my brain is either on autopilot or at least partially shut down. Oh, I know the correct idea/word/whatever is in my head somewhere. I just can't always get at it in a convenient/timely fashion.
This may seem strange, but I do things like watch "Jeopardy" every day to try to keep exercising my brain. I figure that if the body becomes deconditioned from lack of use, so does the mind. So I try to answer before the contestants do. This used to be easy for me, but now the contestants are usually faster than I am. But every once in awhile, Dan will be watching with me, and I will blurt out a correct answer that no one else gets right, even if it's very obscure. Dan will look at gawk at me and ask where that came from. And I will usually have to admit that I no longer remember where I got the info. Oddly enough, it's these occasional hints of "genius" that reassure me that I'm not imagining that I was once intelligent and that motivate me to keep reading and learning and finding new ways to access what's hidden in my semi-functioning noggin.
So on that note, please excuse my typographical and other errors in this blog. Please also forgive me when I repeat the same info over and over. I honestly can't remember sometimes what I've only said in my head or have actually typed out. At least I know I don't have Alzheimer's. While I might not remember a certain word or even where I left something, I can still remember what an object is used for. I guess I should celebrate the little victories.
In other news, I did finally get the KNICKKNACK box packed yesterday. Most of the stuff that was upstairs that needed to be put away has been relocated. And I did pack up an entire box of framed pix/artwork today. But the knickknacks that were too large for the dish pack are scattered about on the kitchen countertop awaiting further instruction.
Dan's co-worker who took early retirement was grumbling about changing his mind, but he missed yesterday's deadline, so Dan's job is safe for a few months at least. It's quite a relief to cross that off the list of uncertainties. I think it will be easier for Dan to concentrate on job hunting now.
Oh, I did manage to do some fun things the past week. Dan and I went to the Outback last Saturday to celebrate my SSDI approval (and to spend the $50 I found in a drawer the previous day, heh heh). We don't eat there very often, so I was really surprised when the waitress remembered me and knew to leave the croutons off the salad and leave the vinegar and oil on the side. Dan and I split dessert, which was ice cream with hot fudge sauce on a flourless brownie. On Wednesday, we called a friend and went to an Indian restaurant that was supposed to have a gluten free menu. Unfortunately, we found out when we got there that it didn't open for another hour, so we went to my fave gluten free place instead (we'll try the Indian place another time). I had chicken alfredo, which was awesome. I'm probably going to try just about everything on that menu if possible.
On Tuesday night, Dan decided he wanted to see a movie at a brand new theatre that just opened up a few weeks ago. The theatre is located on the site of the city's previous airport. It is massive and has 18 screens! Dan had to drop me off in front because the parking was over a block away. There was a fountain in front and screens at the lobby and over each register of the concession stand. The only thing we were remotely interested in seeing was "Mission Impossible III". Luckily, it was showing at the area nearest the entrance; seriously, if I ever go again, I may have to consider bringing the wheelchair. Anyway, the movie was pretty good, despite the fact that I'm not a big action flick fan. J.J. Abrams, the guy who brought us "Lost", directed. One warning: if you are prone to motion sickness, you may want to re-consider viewing this film. In the scenes in the helicopter and airplane, they went for realism, so the camera is jumping all over the place, and there were other scenes where there was quite a bit of camera motion. Tom Cruise is still fun to gaze upon, and one of his mission cohorts was stunning in a siren red dress at the Vatican. In fact, that woman was way cool during the whole movie. I don't know if they really shot it at the Vatican, but it looked quite convincing. The other locations were Shanghai and Germany. In Germany, there was a helicopter chase scene through a wind generator plant complete with guided missiles. Also, the bridge ambush scene was exciting. One of my fave shots was Tom Cruise running through a market in Shanghai. The camera followed his pace exactly so that it almost looked as though he were still with the market flying past him. And of course there were gadgets as you might expect from "Mission Impossible".
Ok, I've lost the internet connection several times while putting this together, so I'd better post before it disappears.
"It's like the feeling at the end of a page
When you realize
You don't know what you just read"....
--Missing Persons, "Words"
Yeah, I know it's a trivial thing, but it's just one example of mental processes that are slipping out of my grasp. I used to be able to pride myself on knowing that even on days when I didn't write well in terms of creativity, at least my grammar and spelling were correct. Now, if I go back and read old blog entries, chances are about 90 percent I will have misspelled something, left a word out, used improper grammar or even used the incorrect form of a word (like "their" when I mean "they're"). I do re-read what I've written before I post, but these days, I can look at a glaring error and my mind still thinks it's correct. Part of it is that my typing has become quite dyslexic. The other is that my brain is either on autopilot or at least partially shut down. Oh, I know the correct idea/word/whatever is in my head somewhere. I just can't always get at it in a convenient/timely fashion.
This may seem strange, but I do things like watch "Jeopardy" every day to try to keep exercising my brain. I figure that if the body becomes deconditioned from lack of use, so does the mind. So I try to answer before the contestants do. This used to be easy for me, but now the contestants are usually faster than I am. But every once in awhile, Dan will be watching with me, and I will blurt out a correct answer that no one else gets right, even if it's very obscure. Dan will look at gawk at me and ask where that came from. And I will usually have to admit that I no longer remember where I got the info. Oddly enough, it's these occasional hints of "genius" that reassure me that I'm not imagining that I was once intelligent and that motivate me to keep reading and learning and finding new ways to access what's hidden in my semi-functioning noggin.
So on that note, please excuse my typographical and other errors in this blog. Please also forgive me when I repeat the same info over and over. I honestly can't remember sometimes what I've only said in my head or have actually typed out. At least I know I don't have Alzheimer's. While I might not remember a certain word or even where I left something, I can still remember what an object is used for. I guess I should celebrate the little victories.
In other news, I did finally get the KNICKKNACK box packed yesterday. Most of the stuff that was upstairs that needed to be put away has been relocated. And I did pack up an entire box of framed pix/artwork today. But the knickknacks that were too large for the dish pack are scattered about on the kitchen countertop awaiting further instruction.
Dan's co-worker who took early retirement was grumbling about changing his mind, but he missed yesterday's deadline, so Dan's job is safe for a few months at least. It's quite a relief to cross that off the list of uncertainties. I think it will be easier for Dan to concentrate on job hunting now.
Oh, I did manage to do some fun things the past week. Dan and I went to the Outback last Saturday to celebrate my SSDI approval (and to spend the $50 I found in a drawer the previous day, heh heh). We don't eat there very often, so I was really surprised when the waitress remembered me and knew to leave the croutons off the salad and leave the vinegar and oil on the side. Dan and I split dessert, which was ice cream with hot fudge sauce on a flourless brownie. On Wednesday, we called a friend and went to an Indian restaurant that was supposed to have a gluten free menu. Unfortunately, we found out when we got there that it didn't open for another hour, so we went to my fave gluten free place instead (we'll try the Indian place another time). I had chicken alfredo, which was awesome. I'm probably going to try just about everything on that menu if possible.
On Tuesday night, Dan decided he wanted to see a movie at a brand new theatre that just opened up a few weeks ago. The theatre is located on the site of the city's previous airport. It is massive and has 18 screens! Dan had to drop me off in front because the parking was over a block away. There was a fountain in front and screens at the lobby and over each register of the concession stand. The only thing we were remotely interested in seeing was "Mission Impossible III". Luckily, it was showing at the area nearest the entrance; seriously, if I ever go again, I may have to consider bringing the wheelchair. Anyway, the movie was pretty good, despite the fact that I'm not a big action flick fan. J.J. Abrams, the guy who brought us "Lost", directed. One warning: if you are prone to motion sickness, you may want to re-consider viewing this film. In the scenes in the helicopter and airplane, they went for realism, so the camera is jumping all over the place, and there were other scenes where there was quite a bit of camera motion. Tom Cruise is still fun to gaze upon, and one of his mission cohorts was stunning in a siren red dress at the Vatican. In fact, that woman was way cool during the whole movie. I don't know if they really shot it at the Vatican, but it looked quite convincing. The other locations were Shanghai and Germany. In Germany, there was a helicopter chase scene through a wind generator plant complete with guided missiles. Also, the bridge ambush scene was exciting. One of my fave shots was Tom Cruise running through a market in Shanghai. The camera followed his pace exactly so that it almost looked as though he were still with the market flying past him. And of course there were gadgets as you might expect from "Mission Impossible".
Ok, I've lost the internet connection several times while putting this together, so I'd better post before it disappears.
"It's like the feeling at the end of a page
When you realize
You don't know what you just read"....
--Missing Persons, "Words"
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