What would you do when you're safe home again?

[sovay]

I had a rotten morning. I needed to go to bed early and I fell asleep sometime much closer to dawn because my back hurt so severely that I was crying from the pain. derspatchel curled up against me while I read about Peter Cushing and was warm and reassuring and smelled like himself, but he had to move back to his own bed before I fell asleep, with the result that I had a nightmare in which we were moving again (no reasons given in the dream, just moving) and there wasn't enough room in the new apartment for both our furniture, scant as it was, and Rob's foot was still in a cast, so I ended up sleeping on the curb with my head at a wrenching angle to the rest of me, which was pretty much how I woke up, except for the bit where I was indoors. It was pouring rain and everything about my neck and spine hurt so badly, I had trouble getting dressed. Both the Red Line and the 73 bus were running late.

The bad news is that I am still in the kind of pain that makes it difficult to think, not to mention turn my head or sit comfortably. (Yes, I am doing something about it, not just enduring with insufficient painkillers. I have an appointment with a physical therapist next week and I hope they'll tell me something that isn't just "Eh, try some heat on it.") The good news is that I had a singing lesson nonetheless, which was worth going out for, and then loitered around several different bookstores in Harvard Square until Rob was done with his doctor's appointment in Davis and could meet me for dinner. We had spent the previous evening staring somewhat hungrily at the menu for the newly opened Shake Shack. As far as high-end fast food goes: totally reasonable. My cheeseburger was a lot of tasty fat in the right proportions for a tired person who had just been walking around in the rain and probably not even that bad for me. Their shakes are legitimately impressive. I ordered a Lobstah Shell concrete, because how could I not—I didn't quite realize it meant an entire lobster tail pastry blended into the frozen custard along with the strawberries and ricotta. It was kind of like eating a deconstructed profiterole. This is a recommendation. I am considering Shake Shack a viable destination for DessertQuest 2014 from now on.

And I got home and handful_ofdust had sent me a DVD of Berberian Sound Studio (2012), which I was not expecting, and other films like Near Dark (1987) and Iron Man 3 (2013) that I am cheerful to own. Gemma, thank you. You are the best movie pusher I know.

And ashlyme seems to have found me a copy of Mark Gatiss' The Tractate Middoth (2013), and Rob seems to have converted it to some format I can watch on my computer, so I think that's what I'm going to do now.

Comments

[skygiants]

Shake Shack! Part of the reason I'm coming around to mushrooms now, after a lifetime as a distinct non-enthusiast, is the amazing decadence of their portobello cheese-stuffed vegetarian burger-type thing. I'm glad you guys are getting it! (And sorry you had a rotten morning.)

[phi]

Yay for singing lessons and delicious food. I'm sorry it came with a side of pain :(

[kate_nepveu]

Crying with pain, very bad. Sorry to hear it.

an entire lobster tail pastry blended into the frozen custard along with the strawberries and ricotta

. . . it's a good thing fresh strawberries disagree with me, because otherwise I would be tempted and I'm fairly sure it would be a terrible idea for my digestion.

[thistleingrey]

Best wishes for productive physical therapy! I've finished one of two sets (four appointments in the one, five or six in the next) with someone who pushes hard enough that I got pain hangovers--next day I couldn't think straight, though I didn't ache much extra--but I have to say that trying to do the exercises has still helped. I just do them at half the rate the therapist thinks I ought, because I need to keep thinking. (Painkillers either do nothing or knock me out, and I don't have any of the knockout kind around generally anyway.) Sending good thoughts against your pain.

(FWIW, for me pain hangovers are a different quality of "discomfort" (ha!) than the kind of pain that comes with bones and joints sitting wrong. Can't think through the latter, either, which is thicker somehow and more attention-grabby. I'm distinguishing exactly because--at least for me--the PT experience has been milder and better than not having it, though still a bit hard at times.)

[rose-lemberg.livejournal.com]

HUGS

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

*{{{hugs}}}*

Nine

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Berberian Sound Studio is excellent

[beowabbit]

Oh, I’m sorry about your and Rob’s illnesses, injuries and pains! The cruel gods seem dead set against us going bowling.

(And thanks to both of you for the mention of Shake Shack. plumtreeblossom and I both love malts. We’ll have to try them.)

[gwynnega]

I hope the physical therapist is helpful.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I have had really good experiences with physio for back pain. Even if they can't fix what's wrong, having exercises to strengthen the other muscles around it helps no end. The thing then is remembering to do the exercises even when it doesn't hurt... or maybe that's just my thing. I hope it helps you too.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

I'm glad there were good things as well. I hope the physical therapist will be helpful.

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Hugs

I hates the chronic pain. I hates it a lot.

I have a weird relationship with Berberian Sound Studio. I loved it up until the protagonist was in his apartment, and I kind of get what they were doing in terms of cinematography/stylistic homage/*other* but I kind of lost the narrative. I suspect I was meant to, but I really wanted to see the narrative I was invested in pay off, and I'm not quite savvy enough when it comes to that genre to really see what was going on. I was thrown. Maybe I was meant to be. Hm...