Update...

So, I haven't really been updating this much because not much is going on in my life right now. I've been dealing with migraine almost daily now and that doesn't mesh with getting on the computer. Light is bad!

The rest of my pain has been worse, too. It's really making my life suck more than it normally does.

Yesterday, I finally felt good enough to head to Borders to pick up a few books to keep me entertained when I don't have a migraine. I also decided that I need some more clothes. I've been joking that I need to get some mumus since I rarely leave the house anymore.

While browsing Borders, I kept noticing the same guy over and over. I didn't think anything of it. We ended up in the sci-fi aisle together and he says, "Um, hi...you look interesting. What do you think I should get?" I was thinking "if he thinks jeans, Pirates shirt & ratty Converse are interesting, he might not get out much." I asked what he usually goes for and he seemed clueless. Maybe he's never struck up a conversation in the book store, so I recommended a few things & continued my browsing. I picked up 2 books & a few cheap DVDs and headed to pay. He gets in line behind me and awkwardly tries to strike up a conversation again by showing me his selections, two of which I had recommended. When it's my turn to pay, he asks me not to leave after I'm done. When he finished, he asked if I'd like to get some coffee. Sure...I had nothing better to do and he seemed OK.

While he was paying for the coffee, I sat down and pulled up my preset message "hey, call me with a fake emergency." I also have one for when were out and I can't get away from an overly persistant suitor, "SOS, HELP!!!" I've found it's easier to have them pre-set so I can send for help faster.

I didn't need it. He started to relax after chatting for a bit. It was pretty obvivous that he's not used to walking up to people to strike up conversation. We chatted for just over an hour and I realized that I should be getting home. We exchanged phone numbers and IM info and I headed out. It turns out he works with my cousin's husband at Carnegie Mellon, so on the way home, I called her to see if he was an OK guy. She confirmed that he was, just really, really shy.

Dad and I sat down to watch the game and after, I got a text from Borders guy inviting me to Sunday's Pirates game. I accepted and we agreed to meet at PNC.

One thing I really appreciated was the agreeing to meet me at a neutral location. I've had bad situations in the past and I don't like being "trapped" at the mercy of someone else. Until I get to know someone, I prefer to meet them somewhere.

The game was frustrating...a few bad calls and we lost. We had good seats though. It was fun. He seemed to relax even more while we were there. We're going to meet up sometime during the week, depending on how I'm feeling.

Rambling & some minor weirdness...

I got a call from my friend, Elle, who was hoping to stop by on the way up to Buffalo since we haven't hung out since I left Virginia. Pittsburgh is on the way and only 3 or 4 hours from Buffalo. We went out to eat and caught up. It was a nice diversion from my usual, nothing. She's always driven through Pittsburgh or past it on the way to Buffalo and never really stopped, so she got to see some sights.

I decided to take advantage of some of the holiday sales this weekend while I was out. First stop, my local comic shop, where I picked up Darwyn Cooke's Parker The Hunter. I also hit Borders & Marshall's.

Marshall's is always hit or miss with me. I did find that they have Marilyn Monroe Intimates there! I've seen them online and really like the designs, but was unsure. When someone puts a name like that on them, quality can be questionable. I have to say, this is not the case this time! My only complaint is that they don't make the bras in my size. I'm a DDD and it doesn't seem that they make them that big. The designs are cute and they seem to be made well. I've been looking online to see if I can find them anywhere, but so far, it's just eBay. I'll probably check a few other stores to see what they have since the prices are so good at Marshall's. They also had Converse sneakers in a few colors for $25 & tons of Hello Kitty!

I decided to stop into Starbucks for a Frappachino since they make them w/ soy now and while waiting, I think this guy was trying to hit on me. I really couldn't tell...He wasn't rude, just clueless. He kept tell me that he saw me come in. Yeah, OK...that Starbucks isn't that big and it's all glass on the front, so I'm sure a few people saw me come in. I got my drink and left and he was still staring. Whatever...

Sunday, dad and I headed to PNC. Sunday's are kid's days and they have special giveaways just for kids. My dad and I went though separate lines and he somehow convinced the guy in his line that he needed the Parrot toy for his kid. My dad is in his 60's and might have been more convincing if he said "grandkid." While standing in line for food, he kept terrorizing me with it, putting it on my shoulder while I ordered and putting it in my face while making parrot noises.

It was hot and I was glad our seats were in the shade. It was a good game, too. We thought it would be another loss, but they managed to come from behind to win, which was great.

We came home and watched Wonder Woman on DVD. The 70's TV show w/ Lynda Carter. Dad & I used to watch it together when I was little. That's how we spend our 4th, baseball & Wonder Woman. :)

I went to get something out of my bag and found a note in there; "You're cute, call me!" with a phone number. I don't remember anyone that was sitting around us or anyone near my bag. It was on the back of a receipt from PNC, so I know it happened there. Maybe it was when I had it on the seat next to me, but I don't remember seeing anyone my age around. I was paying attention to the game and the stuffed parrot that was in my face.

Part of me wants to know who it was, but it would be stupid for me to actually call the number. I just think it's odd. I did make sure nothing was taken out of my bag.

Maybe I should get one of my male friends to call it, just for fun. ;)

Geekery...

I'm a comic book geek.

One thing that I can't stand is a lot of other female comic fans. There are some cool ones that I get along great with, but I run in to two of the most annoying kinds: the "please pay attention to me in my slutty costume" girls & the feminists.

I have some semi-feminist leanings, but it mostly relates to my hatred of girls that have to be slutty for attention or being told I can't do something because I'm a girl. I'm aware that there are things I cannot do because my body wasn't designed for it (not counting the EDS).

I've been looking around for some new series to read since most of mine have been cancelled and I stumbled across a girl's blog about comics. She's a self-proclaimed feminist, but she makes NO sense...

Example: Her complaint about these pictures is that these are unrealistic costumes.

Catwoman can't possibly jump around in this with the zipper down because her boobs would cause problems.

Yes, but she can zip it up. She's covered otherwise. Maybe she's hot?

Supergirl shouldn't wear a skirt! She flies! Pervs will look up! Cropped shirt & boobs!!!

She's wearing something like lollies under the skirt. It's no different than the ones that wear the onsie style suits, just no skirt. Recently they've started making the lollies more like shorts. Honestly, I'm not a fan of Supergirl at all, but it's obvious that she's not just wearing underwear under the skirt. As for the boobs, just be glad they're not hanging out under the shirt.

I agree to an extent regarding the boob issue. Many artists tend to make them ginormous in the most bizarre way. I usually make fun of them and walk away since they've obviously never seen real boobs in their life.

Oddly enough, this girl has no issues with these pictures:

How are these not considered not realistic? No amount of tape could hold either on in a fight! It's all skin with cloth censor bars! Is it so ridiculous that it's OK?

I'm normally not preachy like this, but I don't understand the way people think sometimes. I do get tired of seeing tons of boobage in comics or at conventions. I make fun of those people, loudly. A few years ago, I informed a girl that she should retire her Power Girl costume as her boobs resembled deflated balloons and she did not fill out her costume properly.

Power Girl is busty:

A deflated balloon

Another thing we can't stand are booth girls. These are "models" (really strippers w/ the afternoon off) who are brought in to attract attention to a table. Sometimes they're dressed as a character, but most of the time they look like strippers who got lost and ended up at a comic con. Much to our delight, this practice seems to be going away. It only works for a minute until the guys talking to them realize that they know nothing about the comic they're calling attention to or anything else.

My friends and I really aren't as bad as I make it sound. This is over the course of several years and only when we feel they deserve it. If someone just has a bad costume, we usually keep our comments to ourselves.

Despite being distracted by the confusing feminist comic fan, I found a few things that I'm going to try to locate tomorrow:

i Zombie

Parker, The Hunter

I'm more of a mainstream DC/Marvel fan, but I love Darwyn Cooke's artwork. He didn't do the artwork inside i Zombie. It's also not available in trade, but I'm hoping to find #1 with the alternate cover to hold me over until the trade is available in March.

Mope...

I haven't posted in a few weeks. Not much has been going on. We've had some terrible weather here...bad storms, tornado warnings, etc. My friend in Ohio told me that they sounded the tornado sirens and she had to get her dogs into the basement. They had funnel clouds, but they never touched down.

My health situation is somewhat worse. My knee dislocated itself...I have tendinitis in my Achilles tendons, my thumb is dislocated again and this morning, I woke up to find my ankle is swollen. It feels kind of hot, but it doesn't really hurt unless I'm driving. Icing isn't doing anything. Dad keeps pointing out my "horrible cankle" like I'm a low budget freak from a Z-movie.

Dad wants me to go to the doctor, but I'm fed up with dealing with them right now. I'm tired of spending $25 at my GP for them to send me to a specialist to spent $50 for them to tell me I need to take some anti-inflammatories, ice it and go back to PT, which costs me $50 2 to 3 times a week.

No.

I've had a few negative doctor appointments lately. My hand/wrist doctor doesn't know how to fix my problem and he's suggested that I get a second opinion. He doesn't want to do surgery and cause more problems and he's not as familiar with EDS as he'd like. I'd rather he admit that he's not comfortable with fixing it instead of paying for a surgery and having it worse off than it is.

My knee doctor kind of rubbed me the wrong way. First, he has this yes-man come in and chat. He's a fellowship guy or intern or something. He sounded fake, but I don't have to hang out with him. He pokes, prods, twists & bends my knee around and runs to get the regular doctor. He does the same thing only now it hurts more since it's super irritated. "Oh, it's dislocated." Did he pop it back in? No. Just wrote me a freaking script for more PT. "I can't really afford that now. Can I do exercises at home?" "No, you really need to be in PT so they can keep an eye on you." My other doctor told me that my meniscus was almost gone, too. I asked about that and he claimed there was nothing wrong with it. He fixed it a few years ago and it was fine for a while.

The only plus of this visit was they left my file open on the computer. Almost every EDS peep I know complains that they feel their doctors think they're making it up. I feel the same way, so I went through my records. All of my specialists work for the same group, so everything was there. I read through and there is no mention of me being crazy and making stuff up. What I did see was the same thing over and over, "Too young to have these problems." "The problems she's experiencing are disturbing."

One one hand, I'm glad they don't think I'm a hypochondriac, but now I'm depressed. I'm tired of dealing with doctors that "don't know what to do with me" and I'm sick of hearing "you're too young for these problems." No kidding!

Now I have this funky ankle problem. I didn't sprain it. I don't have any sort of insect bite. I want it to just stop. I don't need another problem like this now. I just don't want to deal with it.
While watching the Pirates game, dad noticed it was still puffy and started poking it. The back of it is bruised. "I thought you said it didn't hurt?" Well, it bothered me a little when driving, but it didn't feel bruised then. He informs me that if it's not better by Monday, I will be going to the doctor, whether I want to or not.

We're going to a Pirates game on Sunday, so maybe that will distract me from my problems for a few hours. Dad got the padded seats behind the dugout. They have more comfortable seats, but we're not paying $140 for a ticket. The only problem is we'll probably end up on camera. I'm a messy eater and they tend to have the camera in my direction while I'm cramming a pierogi in my mouth. Hello single men of Pittsburgh! Ha!

Mission Accomplished!

After going to 3 clubs, we found our moron...

We sat down with her group and explained that her parents were worried, etc and her response was to lunge at Betty Ann. The hit the floor & I tried to pull them apart but ended up messing up my hand & wrist. Lauri's husband, Joe, gets them apart and Lauri runs to go pay the tab while we drag moron girl out.

Outside, Lauri tells us that she's been staying with them and told us that she told them that she had been thrown out and completely cut off. She thought something was off since almost everyone knows that moron exaggerates, but figured that she needed a few days to cool off and didn't mind letting her stay there, as long as it's only for a few days. We exchange numbers and Betty Ann and I decided to head to Eat N Park.

I didn't notice how much my wrist hurt until I got in the car. When we got to Eat N Park, we checked our injuries and the waitress brought me ice in a Ziploc bag since my wrist was purple and starting to swell up. BA has a lovely bruise on her dupa from where she hit the floor and one on her arm from smacking it on the booth she was knocked off of.

We were out late, but woke up early this morning to go over to Mr. & Mrs. P's house and let them know that moron was OK and staying with a couple we knew. We left out the tackling incident. They were relieved and Mrs. P made us a huge breakfast as thanks. We were stuffed and waddled back to my house, took a nap and have been watching bad movies all day.

I left a message for my doctor's office and I'll be going in to have my wrist checked. BA heard it pop loudly and said it wasn't one of my normal EDS pops. I'm worried that one of the bones is broken because I have a cyst in one of them. My thumb is also dislocated because of the swelling. That has happened before.

Drama...

After much nagging from drunk, immature "disability" scene girl, I agreed to grab some lunch with her. I'm lucky that I live within walking distance to some really good, family run restaurants. The only disadvantage is that you have to walk uphill coming back after you're full.

The conversation isn't bad at first, but then she starts complaining about how her mom yells at her for what she's wearing and various other things that you'd hear from a 14 year-old.

I could only take so much of this. I would be more understanding if she was truly disabled. Her parents are. Her father was injured in Vietnam and her mother has some heart problems. They're very nice people. I agree with them. She doesn't help them with the household bills and when they ask her to help out, she refuses. She's moved out a few times, but it never lasts.

My attempts at helping her find a solution keep getting shot down. She can't wait for her parents to die so she can have the house to herself. I tell her she sounds like a teenager and it's fine to have fun, but she needs to find something to do to get her out of the house or just find a roommate and move out. They're around each other too much. You don't make a lot being on disability, but I'm sure she could rent a room or find some one to room with.

She gets mad at me and storms out, in tears, without paying for her food.

The owner comes over and I ask for the check. She only brings me the check for my food. I tell her that I'll cover her food as well, but she insists. She's going to make her pay for it the next time she sees her. I left her a huge tip to make up for it.

That was a few days ago.

Today, her mother stopped by to ask if I had seen her. She went out the other night and didn't come home. She's contacted the police, hospitals and is very worried. I tell her what happened when we went to lunch and that I haven't seen her since.

Mr. & Mrs. P have been our neighbors for a very long time. They're good people and I'm pretty sure she's just "run away," just like a 14 year old, and is probably at some one's house. I've checked her MySpace & Facebook to see if she's posted anything. Nothing. I start sending emails to a few people & start making calls. Two people saw her the night we had lunch.

Now I'm waiting for Betty Ann to pick me up so we can go to a few of her known hang-outs. I haven't heard back from everyone I called and I'm hoping someone knows who she's staying with. I just want to tell Mr. & Mrs. P that she's OK and just being a brat, then suggest they change the locks. She should have left them a note saying she was going to stay with someone for a few days.

Me time

As I've mentioned before, I've been staying with my parents. It doesn't make sense to pay for an apartment when I'm on the road so much. Now that I've been home for a while, I'm really missing my "me" time.

My parents are pretty easy going and they do their own thing, but a girl needs time to herself. Plus I feel like a mooch. I'm not paying rent, but I do pick up food and help out by doing what I can around the house.

Today I thought I'd have most of the day to myself. My parents went to go visit someone and weren't supposed to be home until 5 or 6. I ran a few errands and was looking forward to doing some embroidery, dying my hair and having a me day.

I get home, put things away, sit down & start transfering one of the designs to a bandana I picked up. The Pirates game was getting ready to start and I hear a knock at the door.

This girl I know from "the scene" is on the other side. She lives nearby and I don't really like her very much, but the fact that she lives so close, I try to be civil. She doesn't work & goes out every night and gets stupid drunk. She's on disability, though she shouldn't be. I'm worse off than she is and I still work. Fat & lazy shouldn't count...She gets so drunk that she ends up hurting herself and the rest of us have to pay for her numerous sprains & breaks. She brags about it too, which is really what bugs me. I've hung out with her enough to know she's full of it.

Anyhoo...She wants to come in and hang out. She "saw me come home" and didn't see my parent's car, we should, like totally hang out!

I try to tell her that I don't feel like it, but she walks over, picks up my embroidery stuff and changes the channel on the TV and starts telling me how she broke her wrist (drunk and falling down the stairs of a parking deck).

So annoyed. I didn't drive by her house, so how did she seem me come home? Was she hiding in the neighbor's bushes? I'm also wigged out by the way she mentioned my parents not being home...It made me feel like I was 15 and wanted to sneak my boyfriend in the house.

I told her that my parents would be home soon and reiterated that I wasn't feeling well and I just wanted to watch the Pirates game and work on my bandanna. I also pointed out that we were under severe weather warning and I didn't want to venture out. The threat of rain got rid of her. She threw my stuff down on the table and rushed out. Lucky me, she managed to somehow get the thread knotted up. One skein of it is beyond saving...I don't know how she managed to do that.

Embroidery is easy and after working on it for a bit, I got bored. So far, I have a Sacred Heart theme going on with it. I'm going to add some stars on the tips so when I tie it, I have two stars on the tied bits. I'm not happy with one of the hearts, so I'll probably redo it. My camera battery died and I'm charging it, so I'll post pics later.