The 40 Year Old Cough
It's amazing how debilitating a severe cold can be to me. In the past, I used to get sick much more often than I do now, and when I did get sick I would simply ignore it, assuming with no logic or reason that not taking care of myself was just par for the course for being the tiny master of my tiny universe that I saw myself as being.
18 months ago my last major respiratory failure resulted in a day in the hospital and the premature (and incorrect, to be clear) diagnosis of hepatitis (bad), later changed to adult jaundice (immaterial if in fact you don't have hepatitis or a failing liver or kidney). I've been great since.
So after the best all you can eat sushi I've found to date out here eaten late last Thursday night, I wake up Friday with the sniffles. Since I no longer leave the house during the week, this was not a big deal. Until Sunday midnight when I could barely breathe or hear, and had to cancel an important business trip that started by air 7 hours later.
Making this decision was one of the biggest "take care of myself" decisions of my life. It felt odd, and wrong, but mostly it felt old. But of course, it was absolutely the right decision, and being on 4 planes in the last 2 days would have been an ENT nightmare, not to mention a total whiff of productivity for the meetings themselves. I'm proud of myself for canceling and suggest to you reader that taking care of yourself, at least every now and then, simply needs to be done.
So my cold / flu is now getting worse, but I have until next week to get rid of it. ZRock and LRock both sick now, too, which is simply the worst part of being sick. It's very hard to feel sorry for myself when either/both are even a little down. ZRock has been very healthy externally for some time now, which has been fantastic.
Luckily, they both felt pretty good Sunday, so I was able to feel very sorry for myself during the day for both having had to postpone and for feeling like crap. I left my fully packed suitcase and amazing Tumi briefcase-I never use-present from two years ago-from LRock sitting in front of my unbelievably cool television and watched football, Ryder Cup, last Yankees home game, old movies, American Gangster in two parts (the second half first), etc. while mostly in fact sleeping. ZRock at end of day: "Daddy, why did you sleep ALL...DAY...!!?"
This television is already out of date, not a big deal to those who LOVE televisions, and something I put off buying for literally five years. I love HD. I know, welcome to the club, loser, and the club is already closed, but the Olympics, football, and movies on HD simply are the best. Nobody is impressed by this. My brother has had HD on an equally good TV for a few years already. I believe it turns itself on automatically to YES-HD, a special feature only he has. My nephew has an enormous Sony television, and now has Blu-Ray to boot. My friend and I are talking TV's, and I mention my great TV. He's like, "that IS a great tv! Which is why I got five of them." Well, no matter, I'm happy with it.
American Gangster review: Good, not great. In fact, disappointing. Ridley Scott is an underrated director, and he did a really nice job. His movies aren't fantastic in a Martin/Francis/Michael legacy way, but he is a talented director. He has one of the best commentaries on movie-MAKING I've seen on a DVD on the somewhat interesting Matchstick Men. My big takeaway from it was his planning and his teamwork. One of the things about movies that never ceases to amaze me is the credits from a big production. So...many...people, and it does not include the advertising teams, the product placement teams, lawyers, accountants, PR, etc. A.G. was Crowe doing his Insider routine and Washington doing his slow burn / thoughtful / violent turn, which he's great at, but is now overdone. He's moving into Tom Sizemore mode, incredibly, though more powerfully interesting when on screen. But it wasn't significantly more interesting than Hoodlum (with which it even shares a common actor). Scott's cinematographer, casting agent (who pulled two great character actors I loved out of the Miami Vice remake, found here and here, though this guy was the best in that movie), and costumer did great jobs. But the movie itself is frighteningly obvious, there are literally no surprises, the female characters are written absurdly, and neither lead character is likable.
Lastly, I turn my attention to the most burning issue of the past few weeks.
Total Financial Wipeout, Wall Street Ceases to Exist, Short Sellers Incorrectly Harmed, Federal Government Turns Against the Markets, Al Qaeda Reemerges, Chinese Children Poisoned, Election Moves to Exclusively Having Lies and Rhetoric from Both Sides, Every Other Story of Doom I Didn't Even Notice...
So, the Jets. Pick them to lose week one in my loser pool, figuring that a) they suck, b) Favre is ridiculous, c) Pennington / Parcells super motivated, they'll win. Jets win. Week two in the loser pool I try to pick the Giants, but I'm 15 minutes too late, the pick is coldly ignored by the code monkeys, and my default pick wins. Week three I decide to go for 0-17, and Pennington's team (though apparently he had little to do with it) rips apart New England. And then last night the Jets play San Diego, so since I'm not on my trip I feel morally obliged to watch the whole game with my SD superfan friend and partner, who never panics when the Jets go up early and then never lead again. I lose the $20, which he graciously refuses and I make him take. Luckily, the pizza was good and the company was great (pepperoni, fresh garlic, extra sauce, thin crust; the pizza, not the company).
Most amazing statistic of the night: Favre has never won a game he started as a pro when his team went down at any point in the game more than 14 points. That's amazing. He is such a bad choice for this team, and it's such a bad decision for him personally. SDSF pointed out that it must be an addiction, he simply has to play. It's cool that Favre feels that way about the game, but he should have stayed retired.
All of this completely serves me right for betting against the Jets in week one, which I knew even in the moment was a karmic mistake, and one for which I hope I will stop being punished for starting today.
18 months ago my last major respiratory failure resulted in a day in the hospital and the premature (and incorrect, to be clear) diagnosis of hepatitis (bad), later changed to adult jaundice (immaterial if in fact you don't have hepatitis or a failing liver or kidney). I've been great since.
So after the best all you can eat sushi I've found to date out here eaten late last Thursday night, I wake up Friday with the sniffles. Since I no longer leave the house during the week, this was not a big deal. Until Sunday midnight when I could barely breathe or hear, and had to cancel an important business trip that started by air 7 hours later.
Making this decision was one of the biggest "take care of myself" decisions of my life. It felt odd, and wrong, but mostly it felt old. But of course, it was absolutely the right decision, and being on 4 planes in the last 2 days would have been an ENT nightmare, not to mention a total whiff of productivity for the meetings themselves. I'm proud of myself for canceling and suggest to you reader that taking care of yourself, at least every now and then, simply needs to be done.
So my cold / flu is now getting worse, but I have until next week to get rid of it. ZRock and LRock both sick now, too, which is simply the worst part of being sick. It's very hard to feel sorry for myself when either/both are even a little down. ZRock has been very healthy externally for some time now, which has been fantastic.
Luckily, they both felt pretty good Sunday, so I was able to feel very sorry for myself during the day for both having had to postpone and for feeling like crap. I left my fully packed suitcase and amazing Tumi briefcase-I never use-present from two years ago-from LRock sitting in front of my unbelievably cool television and watched football, Ryder Cup, last Yankees home game, old movies, American Gangster in two parts (the second half first), etc. while mostly in fact sleeping. ZRock at end of day: "Daddy, why did you sleep ALL...DAY...!!?"
This television is already out of date, not a big deal to those who LOVE televisions, and something I put off buying for literally five years. I love HD. I know, welcome to the club, loser, and the club is already closed, but the Olympics, football, and movies on HD simply are the best. Nobody is impressed by this. My brother has had HD on an equally good TV for a few years already. I believe it turns itself on automatically to YES-HD, a special feature only he has. My nephew has an enormous Sony television, and now has Blu-Ray to boot. My friend and I are talking TV's, and I mention my great TV. He's like, "that IS a great tv! Which is why I got five of them." Well, no matter, I'm happy with it.
American Gangster review: Good, not great. In fact, disappointing. Ridley Scott is an underrated director, and he did a really nice job. His movies aren't fantastic in a Martin/Francis/Michael legacy way, but he is a talented director. He has one of the best commentaries on movie-MAKING I've seen on a DVD on the somewhat interesting Matchstick Men. My big takeaway from it was his planning and his teamwork. One of the things about movies that never ceases to amaze me is the credits from a big production. So...many...people, and it does not include the advertising teams, the product placement teams, lawyers, accountants, PR, etc. A.G. was Crowe doing his Insider routine and Washington doing his slow burn / thoughtful / violent turn, which he's great at, but is now overdone. He's moving into Tom Sizemore mode, incredibly, though more powerfully interesting when on screen. But it wasn't significantly more interesting than Hoodlum (with which it even shares a common actor). Scott's cinematographer, casting agent (who pulled two great character actors I loved out of the Miami Vice remake, found here and here, though this guy was the best in that movie), and costumer did great jobs. But the movie itself is frighteningly obvious, there are literally no surprises, the female characters are written absurdly, and neither lead character is likable.
Lastly, I turn my attention to the most burning issue of the past few weeks.
Total Financial Wipeout, Wall Street Ceases to Exist, Short Sellers Incorrectly Harmed, Federal Government Turns Against the Markets, Al Qaeda Reemerges, Chinese Children Poisoned, Election Moves to Exclusively Having Lies and Rhetoric from Both Sides, Every Other Story of Doom I Didn't Even Notice...
So, the Jets. Pick them to lose week one in my loser pool, figuring that a) they suck, b) Favre is ridiculous, c) Pennington / Parcells super motivated, they'll win. Jets win. Week two in the loser pool I try to pick the Giants, but I'm 15 minutes too late, the pick is coldly ignored by the code monkeys, and my default pick wins. Week three I decide to go for 0-17, and Pennington's team (though apparently he had little to do with it) rips apart New England. And then last night the Jets play San Diego, so since I'm not on my trip I feel morally obliged to watch the whole game with my SD superfan friend and partner, who never panics when the Jets go up early and then never lead again. I lose the $20, which he graciously refuses and I make him take. Luckily, the pizza was good and the company was great (pepperoni, fresh garlic, extra sauce, thin crust; the pizza, not the company).
Most amazing statistic of the night: Favre has never won a game he started as a pro when his team went down at any point in the game more than 14 points. That's amazing. He is such a bad choice for this team, and it's such a bad decision for him personally. SDSF pointed out that it must be an addiction, he simply has to play. It's cool that Favre feels that way about the game, but he should have stayed retired.
All of this completely serves me right for betting against the Jets in week one, which I knew even in the moment was a karmic mistake, and one for which I hope I will stop being punished for starting today.
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