Hello there!
Welcome to the new folks who joined last month!
June was a lot of ups and downs. Let’s revisit chronologically, shall we?
On June 2nd, my wife and I donated blood to the Red Cross. She’s been doing this off and on for a while, while this was only my second time. My first time was in March, and I was nervous. I tried to give blood before and had a panic attack. This was over twenty years ago, and while I’m not one of those people that has to conquer every fear (I will not be jumping out of a perfectly good airplane), this was one that I felt I could overcome.
The first time went fine. The second time also went fine, until it didn’t.
Everything was smooth until I made the mistake of looking at the blood donation bag. I didn’t have a good idea of how much blood was actually drawn, and when I saw it, something inside of me thought, “Oh no, why is all my blood on the outside?” I got a little dizzy, a little light-headed, a little nauseous.
And then I passed out. I even said, “I think I’m going to pass out,” even though I don’t remember it.
So, I passed out for like a minute. However, passing out like that (as I have learned) drops you right into REM sleep. I woke to one of the attendants applying a wet/cold cloth to my forehead repeating my name. It felt like I had been asleep for an hour.
Over the course of the next sixty minutes or so, I alternately felt better/not better over and over as dizziness and nausea came and went until I was finally able to stand. I had a snack, drank some juice boxes, and finally went home.
But this was not the end of my medical adventures in June.
As I am about to turn 50(!) in August, it’s that time for the dreaded colonoscopy, something everyone does and nobody likes to talk about. Well, dammit, I’m talking about it because it’s important.
They say the prep is worse than the procedure, and they are correct. Drinking 2 liters of an unappetizing chalky lemon-esque liquid is high on my list of things I never, ever want to do again. The day of fasting wasn’t fun, but wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Being allowed to drink Gatorade, eat jello, etc. was just enough to keep me from being hangry. I did learn that Chicken Broth and Chicken Soup do not taste the same, and whatever happens in the soup-making process somehow makes the broth edible.
The nice thing about colonoscopy prep is this: it’s a great leveler of dignity. As in, rich or poor, it doesn’t matter. You are going to drink this vile concoction, crap your brains out, and not like one minute of it. You can’t pay someone to do it for you, there’s no easy way out.
And like people tell you, the actual procedure is a cakewalk with whatever dignity you have left removed and laid to rest. The weird gown, the hospital socks, the lie on your side and get knocked out so a doctor can shove a camera up your backside. You get a nice nap, and hopefully positive results.
RECENT DIG ME OUT
Here are the June episodes of the Dig Me Out Podcast:
Buffalo Tom - Let Me Come Over
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Subrosa - Never Bet The Devil Your Head
Danzig - Danzig
RECENT READS
Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
It was time to change up the reading and give my mafia books a break. I had heard good things about Packing For Mars and Mary Roach in general from a few folks, so I decided to check out the book. I’m glad I did, not only was this incredibly informative and interesting, it’s also funny as hell. The basic concept is - space has nothing for us to survive. No oxygen, gravity, food, etc. Now throw on top of that, once you put a human body into space, you have to deal with things like how do you sleep in space, go to the bathroom, or reproduce? All legitimate questions if you want to not only travel to other planets, but live on them.
RECENT TV/MOVIES
CLIPPED (Hulu)
CONAN MUST GO (MAX)
FALLOUT (Prime)
TLC Forever (Netflix)
LOLLA - THE STORY OF LOLLAPALOOZA (Paramount+)
A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Prime)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (theater)
Godzilla Minus One (Netflix) - I wasn’t sure what to expect as I haven’t watched a lot of Godzilla movies, but the buzz around this installment was nonstop, so I finally checked it out. Do yourself a favor - even if you’re not a fan of monster movies like this, give it a shot. It’s incredibly well done, and there is a story beyond “Godzilla smashing things” that provides an unexpected emotional arc to the film.
RECENT MUSIC
A few reminders before you go:
Help spread the word - leave a book review at Amazon or GoodReads!
All previous newsletters are archived. Lots of stuff to check out including a link to the original 2011 screenplay of THE BLACK SKY, hints and helps to get started on the real work easter egg hunt teased at the back of the book, and more
Spotify Playlists! I made them for when I was writing THE BLACK SKY, THE RED SKY, and there is also a special one for “The Dank” bar that is in THE BLACK SKY.
If you like instrumental electronic music, I have soundtracks for THE BLACK SKY and THE RED SKY available at most streaming services, along with several other releases.
Stay Safe!
Tim