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July 4: Barbecue at Darren‘s followed by Men In Black II. Good food, fun movie. Denise and I headed back to her town to spend some time with her brother who was visiting from Seattle. (He’s a Microsoftie.)

July 5: Well I couldn’t sleep, first of all. Stomach pains kept me up most of the night. During the day it wasn’t as bad, but it was progressively getting worse. I wasn’t sure if it was something I ate or something else. It didn’t seem related to my lactose intolerance.

July 6: Slept maybe an hour total, spread over the whole night. Woke up still in pain, forced Denise to drive me to the hospital. (Thanks to everyone who called to find out how I was doing.) Was there for several hours in which I received intravenous fluids (mostly salt water and morphine at 200mg/h) to keep me hydrated and ease the pain, x-rays of my stomach, and a CT Scan to make sure I didn’t have appendicitis or kidney stones. The scan came up clear. After about six hours in the hospital, they prescribed some gastro-intestinal drugs for me and I left.

July 7: In a little bit I’ll be leaving for the Brooklyn Museum of Art to finally see the Star Wars exhibit which I missed both the week before and yesterday.

I’m not one for getting treatment when I’m sick. Usually I just try to take care of myself and wait for my body to heal without involving any doctors. I guess this is a sign that I’m getting older. There was this time and once last December when I was just so uncomfortable and in pain that I decided I should just give in and see a doctor. Of course it helps that I have medical insurance now.

There are only few things in this world that will put a bigger smile on my face than receiving something unexpected from someone unexpected. Thanks for the Random Act of Amazon! I suppose I’ll be “paying it forward” in the near future.

Also making me smile today: the repayment interest rate on my student loans just dropped almost two whole percentage points!

…make a difference.

(From the American Medical Association, but please read…)

Is… is it just me, or does Neil Gaiman bear more than just a slight resemblance to Nigel Tufnel?

Neil

Nigel

I had what you could call a “full weekend.” It started with a drum corps show in Pennsylvania. It was actually nice to see some of the people I used to work with, even D. The show was great—all the corps look like they’re going to be great this summer. After the show, Denise and I had dinner with another old friend and coworker of mine who left the office a year before I did.

On Saturday, I attended Devon and Keith’s wedding. They seem like such a great couple… a perfect match. They say that weddings are great places to meet new people…

Sunday was Denise’s brother’s engagement party, which was fun as well, but in a different way. I’m still trying to figure out how to be less attractive to the under-ten-year-old girls and more attractive to the over-twenty-year-old girls. That night, Steph treated me, Denise and Kevin to an expensive Hibachi dinner. It was my first time, and it was wonderful. :> Apparently Steph, who is now 16, has been working since she was five making twenty dollars an hour in her first job. I’m exaggerating, but she’s stinking rich and has already bought four orchestra tickets for us to see Rent this month. Speaking of Broadway shows, it looks like I’ll also be seeing Cabaret for free this month as well as Blast in Philadelphia (though not for free but for a drastically reduced price).

If there was a theme this weekend, I guess it would be kids. At the drum corps show I found that I really miss being involved (while I don’t miss working for a particular organization). Music is a wonderful thing. At the engagement party I was reminded of the fact that I’m just really good with children.

Twenty-four hours to go (before the Colon test). I want to be sedated.

After purchasing a gift for a couple from an online wedding registry, you are given the option of searching for another couple. This put in my mind the thought of people who go around just looking for random couples to send gifts to. They send a gift, then type in a random name, pulling up a list of ten more choices. They choose one, and repeat the process.

To follow an older trend, here are twenty-five things I find good (as the subject of this post so eloquently stated) in no particular order:

Music performances; traveling; performing on stage; watching a play; exploring New York City; the Pacific Ocean; good movies that make you feel; true friendships; computer technology; cuteness; marching band and drum corps performances; kittens; my Project; open spaces; Whose Line Is It Anyway?; intelligence; paradoxical humor; little fluffy clouds; my laptop; real affection; some babies (not all); sleeping; lemonade; Australian accents; giving and receiving massages; family; giving and receiving mix CDs; long phone calls (or long-distance phone calls) with people who make you feel relaxed instead of anxious; singing (loudly) in the car; light rain; getting email from people I haven’t heard from in ten years; the radio station I found to wake me up in the morning; playing Gauntlet with friends; meeting new people; drive-in movies; Amazon wish lists; exceeding expectations.

Musicians Vastly More Intelligent Than Non-Musicians.

Okay, I’m exaggerating, but it is an interesting article. Maybe someday I’ll become some sort of neurologist. The brain fascinates me.

Well, that’s my problem, isn’t it. There are too many things in this world that fascinate me. It’s… fascinating.

Get a good job with more pay and you’re okay.

Someone bought a new notebook computer this weekend. He says it’s for The Business. I’m not sure that I believe that. <grin>