Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in callahans_place's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, June 18th, 2009
1:49 am [tyrokinkykitty]	Another kind of ailment CRASH My name is Tyro, as in Latin for neophyte. The Callahan books gave me a paradigm shift (the good kind) when I first read them, and continue to inspire me every time I read them anew. I've been lurking here for some time, posting occasional short supportive comments, and I realized earlier I could use some help from the community. I don't have cancer. I don't have AIDS or a big scary surgery on the horizon, and I'm fortunate enough to have support beyond disability money which keeps my medical bills paid (mostly). In fact, I don't have anything resembling a catastrophe to deal with. What I do have is pain. Depression. Anxiety. For those of you who are medically minded (or don't mind doing a bit of research), I have been diagnosed with: Asperger's Syndrome Hypermobility Disorder (with 3 years of submission wrestling and MMA training before I was diagnosed, and some other martial arts training before that; I have the beginnings of arthritis in multiple joints as a result) Chronic Pain Syndrome Severe Scoliosis (2 curves: one 26 degrees lumbar and one 23 degrees between my shoulder blades, and a screwed up neck as a result) Clinical Depression (Dysthymmic disorder, nervous variety - constant low-grade depression & free-floating anxiety) Unspecified Mood Disorder (might be bipolar NOS, might be something else entirely - we're not sure) Clinical Insomnia (Born with it - I've had trouble sleeping literally since the day I was born) I repeat: these are all official diagnoses. On top of all this (and most likely unrelated in cause to any of it according to the PhD psychiatrist specializing in pain I asked about it), I have STRONG drug resistance. Not tolerance in the usual sense, though the mechanic is essentially the same: my liver upscales very very quickly, to the point where I have to increase the dose of a pain medication (and some other things, like novocain and laughing gas) within about 2-3 doses of taking something for the first time. The resistance goes down somewhat after a while (over a period of weeks to months), but not all the way down. I have permanent resistance to entire CLASSES of drugs, without having taken them to the point where a typical person would have any issue at all. This includes opioids (it takes 8 milligrams of hydromorphone (Dilaudid, an opioid painkiller stronger than morphine) to significantly affect me. I don't even bother with less powerful drugs anymore, with the notable exception of anti-inflammatories (prescription NSAIDs). Despite a complete lack of formal medical training (not counting an introductory psychology class in college), I actually think in medical jargon these days, at least as it pertains to my areas of interest (i.e. my disabilities). If you've gotten this far, you probably got at least the gist of the above, either from prior knowledge, Wikipedia, or both. As I said before, I don't have a catastrophe on my hands. What I do have is a war of attrition against my own mind. Suicidal impulses, depression and anxiety to the point of agoraphobia when it gets bad, antisocial tendancies (when I used to be a social butterfly). . . And here's the real kicker. I am only 22 years old. I really got the short end of the stick when they were handing out genetic code, esp. since the rest of my family is fairly healthy. I feel bad sometimes, looking at what other people have to deal with and all the things I have going for me. I have to remind myself that my problems are just as bad, in their own way. I guess I'm looking for validation. I need to know I'm not being selfish, that other people - ordinary people, or at least people who are not my doctors - have sympathy and understanding for what I'm going through. Tyro Current Mood: depressed (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, June 5th, 2009
2:48 pm [summers_place]	CEPT, and a little help? First off, a question for the Callahanian mind: What does everyone here do when they begin to feel completely overwhelmed, near to mental paralysis, by events and/or circumstances in their life? Quite frankly, I'm about there. Oh, I know that "this too shall pass", at least intellectually, but that doesn't make the present any easier to deal with, nor lessen the stress. Not to mention that I'm more than a little concerned with what manner of things may occur between now and said passing. It isn't as though there aren't any bright spots at all: I just had a phone call from a staffing agency about a possible part-time position. It doesn't pay much, but it would be something, assuming the company selects me from all the candidates, which is by no means certain. And I had a good job interview on Monday, where it looks like I have a good chance at being hired, but I won't know for sure until early next week, nor do I have any idea how many hours per week I'm going to get and how much I'll make. It's a restaurant job, because that is virtually all that is available here at present. My husband, buckeyehoppy , actually is employed in the same industry, across the street from the place where I interviewed, and his job is good, if underpaid, and - we fervently hope - will remain stable throughout this current recession. I'd love to find a good full time office support position again, but there are very few advertised here of late, and probably several hundred applicants for each one that is, especially in light of so many other businesses closing or downsizing in Northeast Ohio. So it's back to waiting tables I go. Okay, I can deal with that. I also have communications going with a collector who is interested in purchasing some items my father has been collecting for decades, but I'm not sure when we will be able to get together to do business (he's in Lexington, Kentucky, I'm in Northeast Ohio, and the transaction will involve his coming here for a physical meeting and bringing a van). But what worries me right now is being able to eke out the next three weeks between now and when I begin to hit my stride in terms of earnings and also may have sold that collection. I've just looked at my bills, and my bank account, and there's a gap I'm not at all comfortable with. So now, something I really haven't wanted to do, but am going to anyway; namely, asking for a little help, both of the Good Thoughts variety, and the monetary type. Among other things, I make beaded jewelry (example here), I sew, and I do various handicrafts for household ornamentation. We do need help, but I also believe in giving back something of value. If anyone at all is willing to help get us through this patch, I do have a Paypal account and I will gladly design and make an item for you in return. And now, just some general observations: The stuff above is all short term. The long term is that I had really, really, wanted to be on a reasonable career path by now. I'm nearly 45, I've done general office work for years, along with some occasional retail or restaurant work, and none of this is what I want to do long-term. But given the current economy, and the fallout of some spectacularly bad decisions made in my earlier years - some solely my own doing, others made for me by family members or other loved ones who misguidedly thought they were doing the right thing but weren't - I don't even have an opportunity at the moment to begin making a change in the direction I'd like to go. And, of course, looking back at my own decisions, both long-ago and recent, I am beginning to feel that almost every one of them has been wrong. That whenever I am faced with a choice, I ought to choose the opposite of the one that feels right to me, because going with what feels right has so often in the past turned out to be wrong in the long run. Of course, the decision to begin going in the opposite direction from what I usually do might well be wrong in itself, so... The result of all this is that I'm feeling very, very stuck. Trapped. As though the situation in which I currently find myself, or one similar to it, is likely to keep repeating itself throughout my future, because I can't get a handle on changing my life enough to make a difference. Intellectually, of course, I know that I can probably find a way, but right now that lizard hindbrain that only knows raw, emotional reaction is overwhelming the rest of me. Current Mood: anxious (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
9:54 pm [suzilem]	CEPT Request (cross-posted to Callahanians) A friend’s 4-year-old son was born with Truncus Arteriosus Type 2 and had open heart surgery when he was five weeks old to replace the conduit valve from the right chamber of the heart to the pulmonary artery, and a pulmonary artery repair. A year ago, he had an angiogram, and now he’s scheduled for his second open heart surgery this week. This is what he posted last night on his son’s “CarePage”. “Today (June 1, 2009) Andrew had his first of many rounds of testing before "The Big Day". He had an Echo, Ekg, X-rays, and cardiologist visit at The Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. We learned that as of his Angio from last July the narrowing of his conduit has increased from ½ to ¾’s the pressure on the right side of the heart. This means that we can no longer put off his surgery. If the pressure rises any more it can cause damage to his lungs as well as his heart, so needless to say there is no more waiting. He has some scar tissue that is causing some trouble as well as a Narrowed pulmonary artery. They will be repaired as well as the replacing of the conduit. He has been experiencing signs of tiredness, loss of breath, and not eating properly. For those of you who know Andrew know that he never gets tired, and food is his friend. So, something is definitely wrong and even Superman needs some help sometimes although he doesn't show it. Pre-op is scheduled for this Wednesday, which will be the meeting of the surgeon and his entire staff. Then surgery will be on Thursday the 4th.” (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
5:43 pm [ladybrigid]	RIP Bea Arthur Bea Arthur, the actress best known for her roles as television's "Maude" and the sardonic Dorothy on "The Golden Girls," has died of cancer.  This one hurts.  She was my hero as a kid and later in 'Golden Girls' for showing that older women could still be vibrant, funny and alive.  May she find peace and those who loved her comfort. Current Mood: sad (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
12:50 pm [talanhawke]	Walks into the bar, orders a pint of Strongbow. "and keep 'em coming." "To the most oblivious, self-centered, just plain dumb fuckhead on the planet. Me." ***Crash*** I can't acually get drunk, unfortunately. Anyone know any other (legal) ways to get utterly destroyed? I don't much like being lucid at the moment. I don't really want to explain. I know this community is for exactly this kind of situation... but I... I don't want to think about it right now. Besides, compared to most of the things posted here, my problem would seem miniscule. Hell, it is miniscule. I'm just... gah. Fuck it. I'm gonna go get plastered. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
12:47 pm [susan_the_rogue]	*pops into Callahan's, five-dollar bill clenched in one hand* (I'm not completely certain what to do, having never done this before, but I can't be a mere observer right now. So Mike, I'll take an Irish Blessing.) "My aunt worked at the same company for nearly seven years. She was, frankly, one of their best employees. When she was given a chance to work from home, she took it, though it meant a $.25 pay cut and a lower position within the company. She was thriving at her job. They fired her today. Six and a half---almost seven---years of loyalty and hard work, down the drain. She and her husband can't afford the house and bills without her income, and she's terrified that he's going to make them put their two daughters into public school. Any good thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated." *drains the mug* *CRAAAAAASH!* Current Mood: Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaarl (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
10:42 pm [suzilem]	CEPT: Impending Grandmahood My daughter (Kathleen -- in Minnesota and I'm in Texas) is being induced tomorrow morning. Good thoughts are requested. She's one week overdue and everyone is anxious to make Ariel Jane's acquaintance. (If she's a boy, well... he's just going to be dressed in pink for a good long while....) Cross-posted to personal journal. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
5:35 pm [thatcrazycajun]	Crosspost: A Callahanian idea for song punning A friend suggested I should share this post from my own LJ page and the responses with this community. Given the inspiration, I'm stunned it didn't occur to me in the first place. (Also cross-posted to callahanians.) If you remember all the parody verses the denizens of the original Place came up with for "That's Amore" (a list is here if you don't), you may be interested to know that the same thing can be done with Eric Clapton's classic-rock hit "Cocaine." Some of my friends' attempts are recorded here. One recorded parody was done some years back by John Mammoser: "If you're ready to shout / 'Cause your hair's falling out / Rogaine..." Another comes from the funny-country duo Pinkard & Bowden: "If you wanna get warm / When you're down on the farm / Propane..." Some of my own examples: "When your sandwich is planned / And plain lettuce is bland / Romaine..." "When you're eating Chinese / And want noodles that please / Lo mein..." "When you're not feeling great / 'Cause of something you ate / Ptomaine..." Feel free to add your own efforts. No prizes offered, other than the awe and admiration of your fellow paronomasiacs. Remember, the beauty of a pun is in the "Oy!" of the beholder. Current Mood: busy Current Music: Go on. Guess. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, February 9th, 2009
1:35 am [summers_place]	CEPT Request The copper-haired lady in the brown leather jacket dashes in, a bit breathlessly, and plunks a sack of coins onto the bar. Mike pulls a pint for her as she unfolds a sheet of paper from her pocket. "Folks, I just received an email from friends near Melbourne, Australia (where wildfires are sweeping through the area). It reads, in part, as follows: ''Just a note to let you know that we ( I and Fred) may be in danger from nearby bushfires in our area.  Last night we nearly evacuated, but stayed and the fire went over us.   Fires have been awful and very close. [...] This fire has claimed 109 lives and firefighters are still looking for bodies in cars.   Fred and I are pretty much stuck in the middle and are getting ready to go.  Leaving clothes out or sleeping in our jeans and waiting for the word to go.   Today is cooller.  It's been up in the 115F range.  and is supposed to be so this week.  Hopefully, it will stay lower to help get the fires under control. It may still go back to 115F or more, we just don't know, as winds etc., play such  a huge part.  (A North wind can spring up in a few minutes.) That usually means bad luck for all.   Fred just came in to tell me that there are many more bodies in cars.  This doesn't look like it's going to be over soon (but we hope and pray.).   OK love ya'all, hope to be back in touch soon.  I just can't say what will happen, but we will try to take care.  Love BJ & Fred'' I'm glad I heard from her, as I've been worried. On top of everything else, BJ is hearing-impaired and is still slowly healing from a badly broken leg suffered over a year ago, so having to evacuate quickly under the sorts of conditions possible during bush fires poses additional challenges for her and her husband. Please, if you would, keep them in your prayers, send them GoodThoughts, whatever it is you personally do to direct Goodness someone's way. Thank you! See Mike at the bar for a beverage, on my tab, as I know this can be thirsty work." Current Mood: worried (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 28th, 2008
1:05 pm [tsjafo]	CEPT Update My wife made it through the surgeries without complications. No word on the biopsies yet but as it's during the holidays we knew it would take a bit longer to get answers. They've told us complete recover could take several months but she'll be able to do almost anything she did before in just a matter of weeks. Before her surgeries I printed out 17 pages of your well wishes and presented them to her. She was overwhelmed by the love and caring expressed by all of you. I've always been impressed by the power of the energy you share so freely to those in need. I know it made a huge difference. You do good work. Thank you so much, thank you all. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 25th, 2008
6:59 am [shadowcat48li]	Bears and Lizards the pictures here are a couple of the pictures from the donated bears and lizards in Meglimirs name (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
10:38 pm [king_laugh]	Validation Dunno about you, but I think Mike would give this guy a job... (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 7th, 2008
7:15 pm [tsjafo]	CEPT Request My wife was diagnosed with endometrialcarcinoma.  We were told this week that it is an aggressive kind.  The good news, from what I've read, is it is evidently a type of cancer that is usually discovered early.  She is scheduled for surgery on December 22 at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.   Any prayers, good thoughts, healing energy you can spare would be greatly appreciated. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
1:33 am [summers_place]	CEPT Update Hello, it's me again. You may remember this CEPT request from a few weeks ago. Here's the latest: My friend's daughter has been taken to California by said friend's mother, where Daughter is undergoing a week and a half in a "diagnostic program" which she understands as a whole lot of neuro-feedback in which the point is for her to achieve a Zenlike state. As she puts it, "My brain is the only private place I have left, and now they're even looking inside that!" The place is called Ochs Labs in case anyone has heard of it or knows anything about them. So far, I think Daughter has had one session, the outcome of which has made her feel very much like her personality and creativity are being damped down and made "mundane" to an unacceptable extent -- the way her brain was functioning by the end of the day was certainly something her grandmother would have liked, but it wasn't her. Fortunately, she had hung on to enough of herself to know that and be really pissed about it. She thinks she can hang on for the rest of the week and a half, and has (via phone) discussed with her mother survival techniques to keep her Self from being totally mellowed and flattened out of existence; she's identified what to use as her lifeline, so that if she can just hold onto that aspect of herself she can get all the rest of it back afterward. And yes, they also discussed the concept that there might be things she could choose to use from this. Daughter's idea is to make it into a thing that she can take out for schoolwork, and then put back in its box when that's done. My friend reports: "I'm still scared, I'm so scared [for my daughter]. The idea of someone's brainwaves being artificially and electronically dampened sounds like something out of a really, really bad science fiction novel." So at this point, prayers, GoodThoughts, etc. are requested to help her daughter get through this with her personality, creativity and Selfhood intact, and for my friend to get whatever she is going to need to be able to regain custody in the near future. *places a stack of dollar coins on the bar for libations, knowing that sending out GoodThoughts is thirsty work* Current Mood: anxious (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 10th, 2008
7:02 pm [stephmtl]	A happy announcement I just got off the red batphone to Tottering-on-the-brink, and Spider and Jeanne asked me to share with you the exciting news that they are going to be Grandparents! Prospective mom is doing fine and no names or other details are forthcoming. So let's share a toast to the news! Current Mood: excited (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
6:01 pm [davidkevin]	A Good Deed Anyone Can Do I just came back from 7-Eleven via my neighborhood firehouse. Y'all might think of doing the same. I went to the 7-Eleven because it happens to be across the street from the firehouse, but you could go to any grocery or convenience store nearby. I dropped about 26 bucks on one of every flavor of Gatorade in the store and took them across the street to give to the firefighters. It's ninety-something degrees here in St. Louis today. Y'know how great a sweet, cold drink feels after a time in the sun on a day like this? Think how even more so it would be for those men and women after responding to a call, on a day like this. For me it's personal. My Dad's parents and my great-grandfather bought a house in this neighborhood in the 1940s. My dad and uncle grew up here. My brother and sister and I grew up here. I moved back to this neighborhood and am raising my own sons here. Firefighters from this station have been standing watch over members of my family through five generations and sixty-plus years. I hope it can be personal for you, too. Where we run away from, they run toward. What we run out of, they run into. And here in St. Louis, they don't do it for much. So I bought 'em a buncha bottles of Gatorade on a hot summer's day. Can I get you to do likewise for the men and women who stand watch over your home? Current Mood: grateful (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
3:16 pm [davidkevin]	Bruce M. Dane, July 12, 2008 davidkevin enters Callahan's carrying a neck-brace and a lonely looking 12-string guitar, pushing a disconnected i.v. pole ahead of himself. Mike raises an eyebrow at that, but starts to build davidkevin's usual. "Make it extra-large tonight, Mike, for an extra-large soul." Mike does so, davidkevin drops his dollar on the bar, and moves to the line. "He was my good and great friend for thirty years, generous of heart and soul and mind. He raised his own children, and raised children who originally weren't his but who became his because of his love for them. He programmed computers in hexadecimal machine language because that was faster for him than using higher languages and a compiler. He helped run Westercons and Worldcons, providing spaces for thousands to share what they loved in common. He played a mean 12-string, and was always welcome to sit in wherever he took it. He kept me living when I despaired of life itself. "I loved him. "I don't believe in an afterlife, but I like the idea anyway of him sitting down with a Perfect, heavenly 12-string right about now to jam with Gabriel on his horn. "To iamcompufrog, Bruce M. Dane, you will never be forgotten -- and as Diane Duane once wrote, what is remembered, lives." **** CRASH **** Current Mood: crying (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
2:55 pm [davidkevin]	iamcompufrog Needs Your Prayers, Spells, or Good Wishes On Monday, June 2nd my real-life friend, long-time Colorado (and formerly Arizona/California) science fiction convention fan, filk musician, and worldcon volunteer Bruce Dane (iamcompufrog), already ill with degenerative disc disease, fell while taking his youngest daughter to a movie and was paralyzed "from the nipples down," according to his ex-wife, Michelle (iamcompubear). He was taken to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs and underwent an emergency laminectomy (which appears to have gone well) on Thursday, June 5th to relieve pressure on his spinal cord. He currently is in Intensive Care -- he needed to be intubated and subsequently underwent a tracheotomy to relieve irritation of his mouth and throat from the ventilator tube. Currently he is in and out of consciousness; Michelle says she believes he has been occasionally lucid since the tracheotomy but she is not certain: due to being on the ventilator he cannot speak. Bruce has been on disability for many years and was still in recovery from lymphoma, surgery, and chemical and radiation therapies at the time of the accident. Michelle, and Bruce's adult daughters Meera (mtfierce) and Kelly (geminimoonfrog), have been at his bedside in shifts, more-or-less around the clock. If you want to send Bruce a card, which will be read and shown to him whenever he's awake, you can send it to Bruce M. Dane Memorial Hospital/Health Center 1400 East Boulder Street Room 4634 Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80909-5599 Or, if you want to avoid going through the hospital mail room (as a former hospital worker, I know that relying on such can be chancy) you can send your card to Bruce M. Dane c/o Eris-Meihem Partners 408 Canon Avenue Manitou Springs, Colorado 80829-1714 where family will pick it up and bring it to him. Bruce has been my good friend for thirty years and has suffered much in the last five -- I'm worried this may more than he can physically take. Please give good wishes/pray/spell for him and his immediate and extended families as is appropriate for you. (EDITED for details, 5:31 p.m. CDT) Current Mood: upset (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
7:50 pm [talvinamarich]	Callahan's in Second Life I got dragged kicking and screaming into Second Life. After dealing with the insanity for a bit, I found...Callahan's Place! "in Key West in New Conch Republic(215,162,22)" or you can search for "Callahan's" in Places. The building is very nice, and while I haven't met a lot of people, the ones I have spoken with are true Callahanians. In an effort to revive it, I am tending bar whenever I have online time to spare. Note that I am not the owner, or anything of the sort--just lending a free hand. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
11:28 am [airlinepilot]	To A Fallen Warrior Mike- Two flagons, please, one with mead, one empty. *Takes empty flagon and sets it upside down on the bar* *Deliberately puts toes over the line* To fallen comrades, and absent friends! *Drinks* *Throws flagon into fire* Master Mischka Ravensfuri (John Booth) passed away last night just after sunset when he was disconnected from life support systems. He was surrounded by his wife Kiri, his closest of friends and his family. Mischka Ravensfuri OP Rank 412 Also known as: Mishka Petrovich Valadesque Highest Current Award: Laurel Current/Last Known Branch: Porte de l'Eau Also lived in: Three Mountains Read and contribute to Mischka Ravensfuri's An Tir Wiki entry Award of Arms: Apr 25 AS 26 / 1992 Forget-me-not: June 27 AS 27 / 1992 Jambe de Lion: July 11 AS 27 / 1992 Sergeant (Wastekeep): May 8 AS 28 / 1993 Laurel: Jan 10 AS 32 / 1998 Court Baron: Sept 4 AS 34 / 1999 Forget-me-not: Jan 8 AS 34 / 2000 Goutte de Sang: Aug 4 AS 37 / 2002 Throne Favor: July 19 AS 38 / 2003 Forget-me-not: July 19 AS 38 / 2003 Crossposted to callahanians and callahans_place Current Mood: sad Current Music: None (5 Comments |Comment on this)