Tuesday, June 22, 2010

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So.  Had a great time for the first 4 innings of the Father's Day baseball game Sunday.  I was at the concession stand getting hot dogs and beer, turned around to get some ketchup packets and snap!, a sharp pain in my back, like a knife.  It was hard to even breathe, let alone walk.  Took me several minutes to get my composure, then I made my slow and painful journey back to the seats.  Incredibly, I took the beer and dogs back with me.  No spills.

We stayed for the rest of the game.  I was relatively pain-free as long as I remained standing, supporting myself against the railing.  There are worse places to throw out your back than in the middle of a baseball game on a gorgeous summer afternoon.  And the Sky Sox beat the Las Vegas 51's, 13-4.  It was a fun day.  Got to play catch on the field with the girls before the game. They got free baseball gloves. And they're actually pretty good gloves!

Getting out of the stadium and into the car was pretty dicey (another reason we stayed: avoiding the crowd).  Out of the car and onto the downstairs couch (where I've been ever since) was similarly difficult.  And the first night was painful and spasm-riddled and not something I ever want to experience again.

Better now.  I can't get up or down from the couch without help, and pain.  Lying motionless I'm fine.  And I can lie on a couch motionless with the best of them.

So.  I'm reading undemanding fiction and watching whatever movie I can snag on the DVR.  Last night was Dreamcatcher.  Absolutely awful.  I rather enjoyed it, but that's just the muscle relaxants talking.  Tonight is Ride With the Devil, which is about a period of the Civil War I'm pretty familiar with.  Ang Lee directed it, which bodes well.  Jewel is in it,  which does not.



p.s.: Got another story published.  Baby Teeth, in fiction@work (an early draft is here).  Had to tussle with the editors about the last sentence.  I like tussling with editors.  It means they give a damn about the story.

10 comments:

Eric said...

Godspeed your recovery, Clownster.

Sueann said...

I hope you heal quickly!! And congrats on your story being published. That is great news!!
Be careful and take it easy now!!
Hugs
SueAnn

Gordo said...

I feel your pain, Clowncar. Acupuncture from my physiotherapist has always helped, but you need to be mobile first.

An invested editor is definitely a good sign. :-)

Shayna said...

I hope you take care and feel better very soon. Excellent news about your story being published, Congratulations to you!

Marz said...

Between you and Fresca, I begin to suspect someone's aiming to take out the bloggers.

Congratulations on your Baby Teeth!
And you tussling - that's fantastic!

Fresca said...

Well, misery DOES love company, and I admit I was weirdly encouraged to think someone else has been suffering the last few days, like me after my dental surgery morphed into leprosy (well, the allergic reaction to penicillin made me feel like a leper, anyway).

Thank god for mindless TV and Netflix:
I watched the entire first season of "The Big Bang Theory" which I'd never seen and then the first season of "Lie to Me" (with Tim Roth)--two almost opposite types of shows, but equally unchallenging---just right for someone zonked out on meds.

Feel better!

Congrats on another publication! I do think this was the best --as in most original and complex---of the few things I've read of yours.

An editor who notices and cares--yeah, that's a good thing.

Clowncar said...

Doing better already, Eric.

SueAnn, I sometimes have trouble taking it easy. I was able to get out of bed by myself this morning, for the first time. Promptly overdid it. And now I'm back in bed.

Gordo, I went pure Western medicine on this one. They gave me steroids. And I'm feeling better. Steroids couldn't possibly be bad for you, right?

Hey, Shay. as I said above, felt good this morning, promptly overdid it, and now I'm hurtin again. But I'll be back!

Margaret, thanks. Ever see Soderberg's Out of Sight (highly underrated, btw)? Like J-Lo said: You wanted to tussle. We tussled.

Hey, Fresca. Netflix is a godsend. Watched half the first season of Friday Night Lights, channeled onto the TV via the Wii. Good show. And thank you for your kind words on the story - I thought it came out pretty well too. The final draft is better - a little less reliant on parallel construction in the sentences.

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Very sorry to hear about this injury!! Hope you feel better soon.

Congratulations on the publication! That's wonderful news!
Keep writing!!


Scarlett & Viaggiatore

Clowncar said...

Just a slight twinge when I stand up, Scarlett. I am on the mend.

Laurita said...

Great story, that. It had a wonderful eerie quality that was at once comforting and unnerving. Congrats on the publication.