Category Archives: Misc

Beards and Baseball…Life is Good!


I have a new article on Squidoo

Me in my temporary splint the day after the accidentYou may have noticed that I have a beard.  I like beards.  I’ve had a beard since the day I graduated high school.  Literally, the very first day is when I started growing my beard.

Only once, when I really desperately needed a job which required me to shave my beard did I shave the beard.  But as soon as I found work elsewhere, the beard came back.  Needless to say I wasn’t at that particular job long.  I hated not having a beard.

Something else that I may not have mentioned… I like baseball.  I’m not a baseball nut or anything but I enjoy watching the game on TV and baseball is one of the very few sports that I enjoy going to the actual event to see in person.  I’ve even gone to a couple of college games.

Of course we’re talking men’s baseball.  Not so much into the ladies baseball.  Go figure.  😉

Beards and Baseball…

Jayson WerthI was watching a St Louis Cardinals game the other day and I asked my roommate “Is it just me or is there a LOT of beards on these guys?”   So I googled it.  And I’m not imagining it.  For whatever reason, baseball seems to have gone furry!  Oh my!  This is a very good thing!  Very good!

So without further ado, I bring you my latest Squidoo Article:

“Have You Noticed All the Beards in Baseball?

See ya on the dance floor!

Wrist update, Rip Van Winkle, Line Dancing and Unbearable Cuteness!


Rip Van Winkle am I

Yoda, I am too, evidently.  Hmm… Say I.   Difficult to stop, it is.   Save me, somebody must.

Cat Kitten in a Cast Sleeping (CC)This week I have slept more than I have ever slept before in my entire life.  Which really really sucks because I really was planning on doing other non-physical things while my wrist has me out of commission.  Nope.  Some much for best laid plans.

Wed and Thursday, I literally slept about 35-40 of the 48 hours in those two days.  I’d wake up for a bit, then WHAMO!  Snnnnzzzzzz.  Wake up and WHAM!  Snnnnnnzzzzzzz Wake up for a….Snnnzzzzz

Get the picture?  I am so TIRED of sleeping!!!!!!!!!!!   In fact, I just woke up from a three hour nap.  I know that on this one that I should be listening to my body.  I’m guessing here that energy is being diverted to the healing process but come on!  Beginning tomorrow I’m going to force myself to try and get back to a more normal sleep pattern.    Wish me luck!

Wrist Update

My wrist showing the healing incision from the surgeryThe short version is that it is getting better but not as quickly as I would like.  It has been 4 and a half days since I saw the doc and he says I’m on schedule.  GROSS PHOTO warning… click on the image for a close up only if you like scars and dried flaking surgical glue…  You’ve been warned.  😉

He gave me a couple of therapy things to do which I’ve been doing faithfully:  Read the rest of this entry

The Stonewall Book Awards


I have a new article on Squidoo

Golden Book with Rainbow Pages

My latest article is about the Stonewall Book Awards which is an annual award given by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Roundtable of the American Library Association.  Whew!  How is that for a long name?

The Award is named after the Stonewall Riots which marks the beginning of the modern Gay Rights movement.

For more info on the Award, the riots, or to see the list of books that have won the award, hop on over to Squidoo for the full article:

Stonewall Book Awards:

from 1971 to the Present

See ya on the dance floor!

Trauma Drama! An update on my wrist…


Update on my wrist…

My arm in black braceThe best news is that I’m using my right hand more to type.  Yay!  That has been the biggest pain in the… uhm.. wrist?  LOL  Typing with one hand is no fun.  And it is very slow.  Not to mention the super abundance of typos that ensue when only using one hand.

The truly weird part is how using only one hand slows down the thought process.  When typing with one hand I am VERY much aware of the letters of the words I’m typing.  When using two hands, as I’m doing now, I’m much more stream of consciousness, with a feedback loop occurring between the screen, my brain and the fingers in between are pretty much operating without me consciously saying type this letter “K” now.

When typing with one hand only, the left, in this case, I literally am spelling out each word in my head and guiding my left hand as I type each word.  Ugh!

Doctor’s Visit on Tuesday…

My Facebook Friends can skip this section and jump down to the next one, or if you’re bored or didn’t read it then or want to re-read it then go for it.  Your choice!  LOL  I posted the following update late on Tuesday evening on Facebook:

Update on arm: I’m on track to a full recovery but I was hoping to be ahead of schedule. *sigh*

I think the doc was ready to let me dance when he came into the exam room with the x-ray but then he TRICKED me!!!! He said that the xray looks good, and he said’ to the nurse, let’s put him in a removable sport splint. He then asked me if I needed a refill on the pain medications. I said “Yes; I’m almost out.” <<< TRICK QUESTION!!! >>> The scoundrel!!!!! His reply was to run into the whole “you are on track but can’t do this and this and this and you should do this and this and this.”

I swapped out large uncomfortable temporary splint & ace bandages with smaller velcro strap and laces “sports” model. Received permission to shower without splint; got prescribed lower strength pain meds. No driving while still on the pain meds. No dancing until next week (when is when I should be able to go off the meds) He said that the pain I’m experiencing is normal as my body adjusts to the metal and repairs the bone. where the break was and the screws are.

No dancing until I’m off the pain relievers because he says that the meds mess with the sense of balance and honestly I have to say that he’s right. I’d like to say otherwise but he’s right. *sigh* Not a huge amount but enough so that a couple times I’ve had to put out my good hand to stablize myself while standing at the kitchen cabinet. I don’t want to fall again so I guess I should follow his orders. *SIGH* I can start dancing next week if I’ can stand not havng the meds. But have to watch the amount of force on the wrist and have to wear splint at all times while dancing!

For the rest of this week: no force on the wrist. stronger than that used to lift a hand towel or shirt, then I can start using it to the extent that my body allows. Sore from stretching flexing and light use is ok, but avoid inducing pain. He said that an example of too much right now would be lifting a mug of coffee and truthfully I don’t think I’d actually be able to do that at this point.

I’m supposed to keep moving the fingers and rotating the arm. When not in the splint (once or twice a day this week, more as time goes on. I’m supposed to gently flex the wrist up and down)

I see him in four weeks.

Fourth of July

There was one?  I woke up around 4 am on the fourth and then proceeded to sleep most of the next twenty-four hours.  I think my total time awake and out of bed was bout 4-5 hours.  And those 4-5 hours are very very fuzzy.  I have no idea what was going on but I’m sure it is drug related.

The narcotics I’m taking to control the pain are awesome in controlling the pain but they really mess with my alertness and my sleep cycles.

Fifth of July

I woke up this morning around six am and I’ve been working on my latest Squidoo article and drinking coffee pretty much non-stop since then.

I have three goals for today.  (1) Finish the Squidoo article and get it posted.  (2) do laundry.  I literally have no clean clothes.  Oh, isn’t *that* an image?  (3) Do some planning.  I have just under six months before Worlds and there is a LOT of work to be done.  I need to set my goals for the rest of the year then do a Gantt chart to achieve them.

See ya on the dance floor!

Update on my arm…


I am so over this!!!!!

Xray of mywrist after surgery

It has been six days since my surgery.  I go back to my doctor’s office today for my first follow up.  So I should have some indication as to when I will be functional again.

Check out my x-ray. There is a huge hunk of metal in my arm.  No wonder it hurts!

I’ve been pretty much confined to my room since the accident.  I can’t drive because I’m on some very strong narcotic pain medication and because my truck has a stick shift.  It is pretty much impossible to drive a standard with a broken right wrist.

So I’m pretty much dependent on my roommate for transportation.

Life on Drugs

To give you of an idea of what life on drugs and in pain is like for your ever so humble cowboy dancer and blogger, here is what I posted on my Facebook wall this morning which will give you an idea of the state om my brain when sleep deprived, in pain, and up way too early while still working on my first cup of coffee.  It is quite amusing if I do say so myself.  LOL Read the rest of this entry