My new favorite online web comic…Basic Instructions.

I spent two whole evenings reading the archives of this smart comic. It makes me smile. Click on them if the print seems to small to go to the full-sized version.

Basic Instructions

Kansas State vs. North Texas, 8/30/2008

We took in the Kansas State/North Texas season opener in Manhattan, Kansas last Saturday. It was a great time. These photos aren’t great, but are decent considering I took them from the 37th row.

Keithen Valentine….

QB Josh Freeman…

Lamark Brown with a touchdown catch…

Aubrey Quarles…

Josh Freeman again…

Brandon Banks…

QB handoff to Logan Dold…

And three of a touchdown run by Josh Freeman…

Mythbusters, My TV Obsession.

I’m just a little bit (okay, a lot) obsessed with Mythbusters on Discovery…

What I’ve Been Learning, Part 2.

So I mentioned I’m taking this sign language class. And I’m having a lot of issues with fingerspelling. I’m REALLY not very good at it-either doing it or reading it. I just flat suck.

And I stumbled onto this website a couple of days ago while looking for practicing ideas, and I really love it:

Dr. Bill Vickar’s American Sign Language (ASL) Fingerspelling Tool.

It’s really neat-it shows a hand fingerspelling a word-you can choose between words that are three, four, five or six letters long at a range of speeds, and you read it and enter what you think the word was and it tells you if you’re right.

If you have a hard time with fingerspelling, like I do, and have limited options for practicing, this is a GREAT tool!

A good article about ECT and a few thoughts.

MSNBC has this article today that is an excellent look at electroconvulsive therapy and is a great introduction into the treatment for those who are not familiar with it:

“Shock Therapy Makes A Quiet Comeback”

It’s an excellent overview and a good place to start if you’re looking for information on ECT.

Something that hadn’t been mentioned to me previous to having treatments that is discussed in the article is the relapse rate. I wish it had been, because this is something I think I’m struggling with.

I’ve had nine or ten treatments, the last being a couple of months ago. In the last few weeks, I’ve felt the depression begin to creep up on me. Is this a normal time frame? I don’t know, but I thinkit’s probably not, based on discussions I’ve had with other ECT patients.

I probably will have what they call a “maintenance treatment” in about a month-honestly, I did something a little dumb and got my ears pierced before remembering you have to remove your earrings for the treatments, and I’ll probably wait until I’m in the clear with that before I have another treatment. Not, probably the smartest decision but it has given me an opportunity to really weigh the effects that the treatments have had on the depression.

Was it a miracle cure for me? In some ways, it was. I was beginning to have issues with impulse control in the darkest days before I started ECT, and that has been one area I can say has gotten significantly better with the treatments. While I occasionally still feel impulses to self-harm, they aren’t nearly as strong as or as persistent as they were. This, in itself, made getting treatments probably well worth the time.

But when it comes to the depression, I have a little trouble determining if it was the miracle cure my psychiatrist told me it was because I’m battling severe anxiety more now than I ever did. It tends to overshadow the depression.

However, other people can really tell the difference. I recently went back to the hospital for outpatient treatments, and the people who ran it said that I appeared, at least, to be in a MUCH different place than I was a year previous when I came in for the same classes and treatments. I don’t feel like I’m in a better place, but I trust them when they say it seems much easier, this year, to lift my spirits than it did a year ago at this time.

So it may not have been a super-cure. But it seems to have had benefits that made it worthwhile-and since I had absolutely no side-effects at all, it’s much easier to say that than if I’d had some memory loss or fuzzy-headedness.

If you’re looking into the treatments for yourself or a loved one, my first piece of advice would be to ask how high the current level of the electricity is, and compare it to other treatment locations in your area. I think the reason I suffered zero side effects was because my psychiatrist uses a lower “voltage” (or whatever the proper term is) than a lot of clinics.

I would also recommend you do research outside of the internet. See if you can talk to patients who’ve gone to your specific doctor for treatments. If you can’t, and the internet is your only source for research, remember how much the treatments have changed in the last years.

And feel free to ask me any questions you might have-I’d be happy to answer them as best I can.

Clinton Fireworks 2008.

Just some of the fireworks from last evening in Clinton, Illinois…

To the people who do the fireworks. Please, next year, move away from this cell phone tower!

What I’m learning, Part 1-American Sign Language!

In an effort to overcome a fairly serious anxiety about meeting and talking with people in public, I’ve decided to get out of the house and take some continuing ed classes at the local community college!

I hope I can share here a little bit about what I’m learning. Right now, I’m taking classes in pottery (which is really more just a fun brushing-up class since I took several pottery semester when I was originally in college) and a class in American Sign Language.

Man, have I discovered I am not at all dexterous.

At any rate, here’s a neat video I’m using to help me practice fingerspelling.

A week of change.

Sometimes, it seems like things hit you all at once.

My old trusty Geo died this week. Actually, died might be a strong word for it-it started choking at intersections and after you’d come to a complete stop. The verdict was that we’d need to replace the whole exhaust system. Add this to the fact that the tires were on their last legs, and we decided rather than pour money into a 16 year-old car, maybe it was time to upgrade.

So here’s my new ride:

Then, on Thursday, our cat, Puppy, took a turn for the worst and we had to put her to sleep. She was old, so it wasn’t a total surprise. But still, it’s not much fun to say goodbye to a pet. Here she was, a couple of years ago when I had to bandage a cut on her foot.

Hopefully we’ve had enough change for a while, and things will settle down.

Please, Donate Blood.

Because I can’t any more. I’ve tried three times in the last couple of weeks, and every time my pulse has been too high. This is upsetting to me-donating blood was something I really think is important and felt good about doing.

Blood is in especially high demand right now because of flooding in the midwest.

I promise-it’s a relatively painless procedure and you’ll feel great about yourself when you do it! What are you waiting for?

My new favorite blog.

I love this blog….

The Pioneer Woman.

I love the food porn-no one does an online recipe like the PW.  Seriously. Go look. Right now.

I also love her photography blog. It’s clear, concise, and I’m picking up a lot of neat tricks to try in Photoshop Elements.

By the way, I will be writing a post soon on my thoughts on my journey with ECT very soon. I’m not finished with the treatments yet, but have had some peaks and some valley since I started that I’d like to touch on.