I don't know how I managed to be so busy this past week. Monday, I helped at a friend's tech week; Tuesday, I had a bunch of meetings; Wednesday, I had a baking party, Harry Potter trivia night, and munchies at my res college; Thursday, I visited a friend in the hospital; and Friday was a normal, busy Friday. I'm not in tech week; this shouldn't happen!
Anyway, I really wanted to post about the Harry Potter trivia night. Each week, there's a trivia night to raise money for Dance Marathon. You go, pay $5 to play (which goes to your team/committee fundraising total), and play for the chance to win prizes. I had to go to Harry Potter week, and my team from my committee was one of our co-chairs and a friend of mine who went to LeakyCon.
He was wearing a Lauren Fairweather "My muggle friends just don't understand" t-shirt, and I was wearing my "It's pronounced leviosa, NOT leviosa" shirt and Gryffindor tie (I was channeling Hermione). Our team name was "Ministry of Magic" (after the band).
Each question was asked, he and I would make eye contact, nod, and he would write down the answer we were both thinking while our teammate laughed at how ridiculous we were. Even though we didn't win (not quite sure how that happened...), it was really fun to celebrate the series once again.
I hope they do a Doctor Who week :)
Other than that, I've been chugging along, doing tons of homework, and prepping for my next tech week, which starts tomorrow. It's my first lighting design, I think it's a good show for a first design, and I'm ready to go. I think. The problem is I've never done this before, so I know how the overall process works, but I've always been an assistant or ME, never the designer. It just kind of stinks that I'll be doing this without my dominant hand, but I've got a supportive team who will help me get it done.
Ok, back to getting ahead on homework. I need that to be the least of my stresses this week!
Today is awesome because I'm going to '90s karaoke at a cupcake shop.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
This Week...What?
Oh, boy. These last two weeks have been insane between school, tech week, and dealing with my broken hand. Yeah, it's broken after all. A nondisplaced fracture to the hook of the hamate, which basically translates to there being a crack in the bone that just needs to grow back together. Oddly enough, I haven't felt any pain at the site of the break, so at least I've been spared that.
I'm a pretty positive person, at I try to be, and I don't like to share my negativity with the outside world, but the process of finding out my hand was broken was long, drawn out, and torturous. I went to my two health service appointments last week, but then they called me back in and put me through a 5-hour ordeal that involved more x-rays and a ct scan at an offsite hospital. Then I was sent to a hand specialist downtown, but I had to get up at 6 to get on a bus at 7 so I could be at my appointment at 8. Not. Fun. I got there, only to find out that I was the one who was supposed to bring my ct in, which nobody told me and I didn't know to ask. I had another ridiculous day of doctor-going this past Tuesday, when the diagnosis was finally made. I'm pretty fed up with the health system, and I don't want to deal with it anymore.
My treatment is to wear a molded splint that I'm allowed to take off for showering and typing. My friend decorated it with bandaids: one has a unicorn and rainbows and the other is a comic book-like "pow," which spices things up and makes me really happy.
I really appreciate how wonderful and supportive my friends have been. Having them encourage me throughout this process has reminded me what amazing people are in my life, and I couldn't have imagined a better group of people.
So, on to tech week. I hated feeling useless and incapacitated, but I did a lot of teaching during hang/cable and was able to assist with focus, some programming, and taking notes from various angles. The team for I Love You Because has been such a fun and talented group to work with, and I'm really proud of the work we've all done. It's such a fun show!!
School has been...interesting. I've really lost patience with all of my classes, and this is just exacerbated by the fact that I missed some while dealing with doctors. The best thing that's happened this week was that my Theatre Design midterm project was a success. It was part writing, part art, and my art project was consistent with my writing AND my professor/classmates understood what I was going for with that visual representation. It was so cool to hear them say the things I had been thinking of as I was creating.
Another cool thing I did this week was sit down with a friend and make a light plot for the show I'm designing. I'm still really nervous about taking on this kind of project, especially since I can't do any of the electrics myself, so my vocabulary around what I'm doing is somewhat circuitous and awkward. I have yet to call it "my show" and I'm very self-conscious about talking about it with my friends. I'm just afraid it's going to be terrible, and while a first attempt at anything isn't necessarily going to be awesome, I really don't want it to be totally awful. I'll probably be more excited about it as I get closer and more confident in what I'm doing, but for now, I'm awkward about it.
I think that sums things up. Oh, wait! I got a t-shirt this week that was designed by a friend of mine who has her own t-shirt business! When she asked me if I had any design ideas, I told her that I trust her because I'd seen some of her other designs, and they are gorgeous. She made me a black shirt that says in metallic silver writing "it's pronounced leviosa not leviosa" with the word "leviosa" in dictionary phonetic spelling and there's a floating feather. Everyone who had seen it thought I had requested that, but the fact that she made me a shirt with a Hermione quote without me asking her to makes the shirt even more awesome!!! I love it.
Today is awesome because I'm catching up on studying, homework, and blogging; possibly going to the homecoming game; and probably celebrating the show with the team tonight.
I'm a pretty positive person, at I try to be, and I don't like to share my negativity with the outside world, but the process of finding out my hand was broken was long, drawn out, and torturous. I went to my two health service appointments last week, but then they called me back in and put me through a 5-hour ordeal that involved more x-rays and a ct scan at an offsite hospital. Then I was sent to a hand specialist downtown, but I had to get up at 6 to get on a bus at 7 so I could be at my appointment at 8. Not. Fun. I got there, only to find out that I was the one who was supposed to bring my ct in, which nobody told me and I didn't know to ask. I had another ridiculous day of doctor-going this past Tuesday, when the diagnosis was finally made. I'm pretty fed up with the health system, and I don't want to deal with it anymore.
My treatment is to wear a molded splint that I'm allowed to take off for showering and typing. My friend decorated it with bandaids: one has a unicorn and rainbows and the other is a comic book-like "pow," which spices things up and makes me really happy.
I really appreciate how wonderful and supportive my friends have been. Having them encourage me throughout this process has reminded me what amazing people are in my life, and I couldn't have imagined a better group of people.
So, on to tech week. I hated feeling useless and incapacitated, but I did a lot of teaching during hang/cable and was able to assist with focus, some programming, and taking notes from various angles. The team for I Love You Because has been such a fun and talented group to work with, and I'm really proud of the work we've all done. It's such a fun show!!
School has been...interesting. I've really lost patience with all of my classes, and this is just exacerbated by the fact that I missed some while dealing with doctors. The best thing that's happened this week was that my Theatre Design midterm project was a success. It was part writing, part art, and my art project was consistent with my writing AND my professor/classmates understood what I was going for with that visual representation. It was so cool to hear them say the things I had been thinking of as I was creating.
Another cool thing I did this week was sit down with a friend and make a light plot for the show I'm designing. I'm still really nervous about taking on this kind of project, especially since I can't do any of the electrics myself, so my vocabulary around what I'm doing is somewhat circuitous and awkward. I have yet to call it "my show" and I'm very self-conscious about talking about it with my friends. I'm just afraid it's going to be terrible, and while a first attempt at anything isn't necessarily going to be awesome, I really don't want it to be totally awful. I'll probably be more excited about it as I get closer and more confident in what I'm doing, but for now, I'm awkward about it.
I think that sums things up. Oh, wait! I got a t-shirt this week that was designed by a friend of mine who has her own t-shirt business! When she asked me if I had any design ideas, I told her that I trust her because I'd seen some of her other designs, and they are gorgeous. She made me a black shirt that says in metallic silver writing "it's pronounced leviosa not leviosa" with the word "leviosa" in dictionary phonetic spelling and there's a floating feather. Everyone who had seen it thought I had requested that, but the fact that she made me a shirt with a Hermione quote without me asking her to makes the shirt even more awesome!!! I love it.
Today is awesome because I'm catching up on studying, homework, and blogging; possibly going to the homecoming game; and probably celebrating the show with the team tonight.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
5 Things That Require Two Hands
On Sunday, instead of my usual blogging exploits, I was loading in for tech week. However, in the process of getting a heavy bit of equipment off of the truck and into the space, it fell and my wrist broke its fall. Luckily, neither I nor the stuff is broken, but my hand/wrist/forearm area is severely bruised and ridiculously swollen, and there's some pretty bruising on my foot as well (but nothing worse than I've gotten from kicking an elbow in tae kwon do). As a result of losing the use of my right hand (yes, that's the dominant one), I've decided to write a post about 5 things I usually take for granted that really do require two hands.
1. Tying my shoes. I tried to tie my sneakers on Monday, but they kept coming untied because I couldn't pull the bow tight enough to hold. I eventually had a friend tie them for me, but I've been wearing slip-on shoes ever since.
2. Putting my hair in a ponytail. Really, doing anything to my hair. I've been wearing headbands to keep it out of my face, but I really wish I could pull it back.
3. Putting on deodorant. I get through one side then realize I can't grip with my injured hand. Let's just say, I have indeed been wearing deodorant, but it's been applied in creative ways.
4. Doing a task while carrying something. Since my usable hand is doing the carrying, I can't carry another thing or, say, open a door while there is something in my hand. Usually I can manage with an elbow or a hip, but it's still kind of annoying.
5. Belting my pants. It took a day for me to be able to put pants on without the hand hurting, but I can't even think of how I can wear a belt as well.
Another thing I can't do right now is write, but that's only a problem when I need to take an exam so far. Typing is okay, but I have a quiz on Monday for which I will most likely be sloppily circling answers with my left hand.
I want to say that the accident is nobody's fault. We were all experienced techies doing a routine task, and it was a freak incident. There is no one to blame, and I'm not mad at anyone. Nobody else should be angry or guilty because I'm not, and I'm the only one who got hurt. I'm over the fact that it happened, and now I'm living with the reality of the injury, end of story.
Yesterday, I had the fascinating experience of writing a paper about the construction of illness while going through the process of constructing my own illness identity for this situation. I have decided that I'm just a resilient person. As one friend said, "We've learned that we can't break Steph." We came pretty close, but even if it were broken, I'd bounce back anyway because I hate the idea of taking on a victimized illness identity. I am a strong, independent person, and if I have to do that with one hand for a while, so be it.
But, really, I want the swelling to go away. Stupid hematoma.
Today is awesome because my doctor unceremoniously chucked the plaster monstrosity I'd been wearing and upgraded me to a fancy velcro wrist brace that looks relatively normal. (See the adjustment of "awesome" brought about by the illness identity? Love sociology.)
1. Tying my shoes. I tried to tie my sneakers on Monday, but they kept coming untied because I couldn't pull the bow tight enough to hold. I eventually had a friend tie them for me, but I've been wearing slip-on shoes ever since.
2. Putting my hair in a ponytail. Really, doing anything to my hair. I've been wearing headbands to keep it out of my face, but I really wish I could pull it back.
3. Putting on deodorant. I get through one side then realize I can't grip with my injured hand. Let's just say, I have indeed been wearing deodorant, but it's been applied in creative ways.
4. Doing a task while carrying something. Since my usable hand is doing the carrying, I can't carry another thing or, say, open a door while there is something in my hand. Usually I can manage with an elbow or a hip, but it's still kind of annoying.
5. Belting my pants. It took a day for me to be able to put pants on without the hand hurting, but I can't even think of how I can wear a belt as well.
Another thing I can't do right now is write, but that's only a problem when I need to take an exam so far. Typing is okay, but I have a quiz on Monday for which I will most likely be sloppily circling answers with my left hand.
I want to say that the accident is nobody's fault. We were all experienced techies doing a routine task, and it was a freak incident. There is no one to blame, and I'm not mad at anyone. Nobody else should be angry or guilty because I'm not, and I'm the only one who got hurt. I'm over the fact that it happened, and now I'm living with the reality of the injury, end of story.
Yesterday, I had the fascinating experience of writing a paper about the construction of illness while going through the process of constructing my own illness identity for this situation. I have decided that I'm just a resilient person. As one friend said, "We've learned that we can't break Steph." We came pretty close, but even if it were broken, I'd bounce back anyway because I hate the idea of taking on a victimized illness identity. I am a strong, independent person, and if I have to do that with one hand for a while, so be it.
But, really, I want the swelling to go away. Stupid hematoma.
Today is awesome because my doctor unceremoniously chucked the plaster monstrosity I'd been wearing and upgraded me to a fancy velcro wrist brace that looks relatively normal. (See the adjustment of "awesome" brought about by the illness identity? Love sociology.)
Sunday, October 2, 2011
BIG Happenings This Week!
This is my 121st blog post :)
Monday: Not too exciting...classes, swimming...I learned how to use Stata (a computer program) for my statistics class and was able to complete my homework, which was cool
Tuesday: Most ridiculous day ever! I was awakened at 7:55AM by somebody opening the fire door and then again at 8:23 when people were screaming in the hallway. I got up when my alarm went off at 9:03 to find that I had received 10 e-mails overnight, which took me a good 30 minutes to read, which made me 15 minutes late to the gym, but I was still done with my workout/cleanup by 11. I had a meeting with a co-leader at 12, a meeting at 2, a meeting with a producer/friend at 2:30 during which he persuaded me to lighting design his show (my first design...I'm pretty scared but kind of cautiously excited; I just don't want it to be terrible but I have no idea what I'm doing), then I had class at 3:30, a prod meeting for the show I had just signed on to at 5 (right after class), a mandatory dorm meeting at 7, a follow-up meeting to the noon meeting at 8 that led up to the committee meeting at 8:30, then a prod meeting for a show I had already been working on at 10:30. To top it all off, I had an endless stream of e-mail throughout the day. It was exhaustingly busy, I went to bed feeling entirely overwhelmed, but then things got better.
Wednesday: A far more relaxed day. Hardly any e-mail, 2 classes, a swim, and then it was a holiday.
Thursday: In the morning I observed the holiday, which involved chanting at services in front of a bunch of people, which made me super nervous, but I think it went well. Then I had class at 3:30 and more holiday at night. I was really looking forward to a night with no commitments, but I had a prod meeting for a third show at 10:30 where the plot for which I am the master electrician was revealed. Oh, and in the middle of the day it was decided that I'm going home next weekend for the holiday. It's going to be an oddly short visit and very concentrated, but I'm looking forward to it.
Friday: I had theater class! The professor is so dynamic in person and was really funny during lecture. In his excitement about shapes, he declared that the area of a 4x4 square is 8, which we students corrected him on, but there were funnies like that throughout class. I had lunch with friends, and then we made collages in lab. The assignment was pretty cool; use two identical images of Alice to portray the growing/shrinking scene from Alice in Wonderland. I had a lot of fun! Then I spent a peaceful evening eating amazing food with a great friend from home.
Saturday: I got up, got my bike fixed (it broke on Wednesday), stained floorboards for a set with friends, then did theater design homework for 4 hours. I had to make 8 tracing paper overlays of 2 works of art (4 per work, each one highlighting an element or principle of design), and by the time I was done my hands and face were covered in graphite, and I hadn't even noticed that I'd been drawing for 2 hours. The other hours were spent finding and writing about images that exemplify elements or principles of design. At night, I tried to see a musical with some friends, but we got shut out and ended up chilling in a dorm room instead. When I got home, I went to the vending machine for a package of jammie dodgers and watched the new episode of Doctor Who, which was AMAZING!!! Too bad it's the season finale. I'm psyched for the Christmas special!!! Oh, and I brewed a potion.
Sunday: Homework in the morning, ECO meeting, more homework, then Big Bite Night. Big Bite Night is an event in town where restaurants give out free samples. We hit about 20 places, and every place we didn't eat was by choice or they were closed. I went with three friends, and it was an afternoon of good food and great friends. I even ran into an alumna who I didn't expect to see, and that made me so happy!! Tonight, I'm doing work (or avoiding it), and chilling before another full week.
Today is awesome because of copious amounts of free food and spending lots of time with amazing friends!
Monday: Not too exciting...classes, swimming...I learned how to use Stata (a computer program) for my statistics class and was able to complete my homework, which was cool
Tuesday: Most ridiculous day ever! I was awakened at 7:55AM by somebody opening the fire door and then again at 8:23 when people were screaming in the hallway. I got up when my alarm went off at 9:03 to find that I had received 10 e-mails overnight, which took me a good 30 minutes to read, which made me 15 minutes late to the gym, but I was still done with my workout/cleanup by 11. I had a meeting with a co-leader at 12, a meeting at 2, a meeting with a producer/friend at 2:30 during which he persuaded me to lighting design his show (my first design...I'm pretty scared but kind of cautiously excited; I just don't want it to be terrible but I have no idea what I'm doing), then I had class at 3:30, a prod meeting for the show I had just signed on to at 5 (right after class), a mandatory dorm meeting at 7, a follow-up meeting to the noon meeting at 8 that led up to the committee meeting at 8:30, then a prod meeting for a show I had already been working on at 10:30. To top it all off, I had an endless stream of e-mail throughout the day. It was exhaustingly busy, I went to bed feeling entirely overwhelmed, but then things got better.
Wednesday: A far more relaxed day. Hardly any e-mail, 2 classes, a swim, and then it was a holiday.
Thursday: In the morning I observed the holiday, which involved chanting at services in front of a bunch of people, which made me super nervous, but I think it went well. Then I had class at 3:30 and more holiday at night. I was really looking forward to a night with no commitments, but I had a prod meeting for a third show at 10:30 where the plot for which I am the master electrician was revealed. Oh, and in the middle of the day it was decided that I'm going home next weekend for the holiday. It's going to be an oddly short visit and very concentrated, but I'm looking forward to it.
Friday: I had theater class! The professor is so dynamic in person and was really funny during lecture. In his excitement about shapes, he declared that the area of a 4x4 square is 8, which we students corrected him on, but there were funnies like that throughout class. I had lunch with friends, and then we made collages in lab. The assignment was pretty cool; use two identical images of Alice to portray the growing/shrinking scene from Alice in Wonderland. I had a lot of fun! Then I spent a peaceful evening eating amazing food with a great friend from home.
Saturday: I got up, got my bike fixed (it broke on Wednesday), stained floorboards for a set with friends, then did theater design homework for 4 hours. I had to make 8 tracing paper overlays of 2 works of art (4 per work, each one highlighting an element or principle of design), and by the time I was done my hands and face were covered in graphite, and I hadn't even noticed that I'd been drawing for 2 hours. The other hours were spent finding and writing about images that exemplify elements or principles of design. At night, I tried to see a musical with some friends, but we got shut out and ended up chilling in a dorm room instead. When I got home, I went to the vending machine for a package of jammie dodgers and watched the new episode of Doctor Who, which was AMAZING!!! Too bad it's the season finale. I'm psyched for the Christmas special!!! Oh, and I brewed a potion.
Sunday: Homework in the morning, ECO meeting, more homework, then Big Bite Night. Big Bite Night is an event in town where restaurants give out free samples. We hit about 20 places, and every place we didn't eat was by choice or they were closed. I went with three friends, and it was an afternoon of good food and great friends. I even ran into an alumna who I didn't expect to see, and that made me so happy!! Tonight, I'm doing work (or avoiding it), and chilling before another full week.
Today is awesome because of copious amounts of free food and spending lots of time with amazing friends!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)