Differenter

The hole in my skull where my #15 molar used to be is feeling a little better every day.  I find that two things make it hurt - being vertical for too long (it must be a gravity thing) and talking too much.  I limit both as much as I can but I Wednesday the afternoon at the Apple Store doing some training (vertical) and I spent an hour and a half on the phone that night (horizontal) so by the time bedtime rolled around I was ready for the day to end.

Yesterday was a better day and my tongue is making tentative attempts to begin exploring that area of my mouth - an area that has been strictly forbidden since Monday.  It's still sore, but as it heals it doesn't creep me out quite so much to so little my little my tongue is starting to get familiar with the new landscape on that side of my mouth.  I'm still on soft foods, though, which is fine.  I can eat soft foods for weeks and not miss anything.  I'm' not on a regular dose of ibuprofin anymore - it doesn't really hurt all that much at this point.  I even went for a fairly long run yesterday which I enjoyed.  All things considered,  I'm very much (thankfully) on the mend.

I was looking at a couple of friends' photos on Facebook yesterday which reminded me of the early, early days of coming to terms with the part of me that was Donna and I kept well-hidden at all costs.  There was an excitement about the rare opportunities that I had to express that part of myself because it was like giving a prisoner exiled to solitary confinement some brief time to experience the warmth of the sun that is life before being banished back to the dark and cold confines where I needed her to be.

Back in those days there were no tools like Facebook or the internet to express that side of myself, or the "Donna personna", as so many seem to do so freely now.  Even if it were available I don't think I would or could have taken advantage of it.  I admire the way that some seem to be able to keep their two separate personalities or lives apart and how they seem able to avoid allowing them to intersect.  I couldn't do that.  Even back in those old days I am Donna and Donna is me.  We are all part of one - various aspects or sides to a single thread of life that was not a game, not some alternate "self", not something that could simply be worn or unworn.  We all find different ways of handling our "gift" but I'm curious if I would have done anything differently if I were at that stage of my life now instead of a dozen years ago.

I went to a local monthly support group meeting last night.  It was my second time there and it's another reminder of how far we've come as a community and from where I came from as a person.  The room was absolutely packed to the point that people were sitting on the floor and the energy was generally very positive.  It was nice to see people I've met in passing as well as people who have become dear friends - all are brothers and sisters in one way or another.  I am thankful that I have retained my connection to my community and to my roots - I know others who try to erase or deny those links and that's certainly fine if it works for them.  As for me - I had a nice time last night and I'm continuously reminded of the many blessings in my life that I wouldn't have otherwise realized.

Here in Arizona there was a televised debate for the Governor's office a couple of nights ago.  Our current governor, Jan Brewer, got her job when Janet Napolitano left to take the role of the Director of Homeland Security in the Obama Administration.  She has made quite the name for herself in recent months as the mouthpiece for SB1070, the immigration bill here that has galvanized local and national sensitivities on the subject of immigration.

The reason I mention this here is that she's legally required to do one televised debate and that debate happened on Tuesday night. It will be the last one, too, given the fact that she fell flat on her face in a big way. There was a very awkward 16-second pause at the beginning of the debate as well as some questionable "stuff" later such as beheadings in the desert and other stuff. CNN did a good job covering it (see it here).

Once you see the real deal it makes this very funny.  One local personality did a parody of it that makes me laugh out loud:



Too funny.  If I hear the word "differenter" one more time I'm going to split a gut....

Here's another CNN take on it that's pretty funny (see it here).

Anyway - next week at this time I'll be in Atlanta attending SCC.  See you there!

I'm still laughing at that video, by the way.....