As Promised

I woke up strangely aggravated yesterday so I just stayed away from people. Weird for me because I'm usually pretty mellow and difficult to bother but I was like bothered by default all day. Side effect to lack of blood, lack of sleep and bad news maybe? Repressed aggravation from never letting people aggravate me typically? I don't know. I'm feeling a lot better today.

2 bags of M&M's later, I'm feeling a lot better.

I had a neat dream. It had to do with having magical powers, secret agents, great escapes, and basilisks... if I recall. If I went into it I'm afraid this would turn into a small novel rather than a quick blog before I go hunt for food. So, you'll have to just use your imaginations.

So about the stuffs I promised to mention and then delayed!

While in Michigan not only did we get super plastered, find a Kerropi, hang out with bands, and go on a shopping spree. But I also ran into a dude I apparently knew way way back when. He was working as a clerk in one of the shops I went into and when I was checking out with copious amounts of imported candy he says, "You look familiar." At first I'm thinking, cheesy pick-up line, but then I look at him again and I'm like huh...

So rather than shrug it off I ask if he went to such-and-such a high school, which he didn't but then he asks, "Did you hang out on Biddle?"

Holly! Biddle. We spent like 90% of our life there growing up, you and I. So I am a little surprised and confirm. It turns out he was one of the boys who hung out skateboarding behind the club down there and had the hugest crush on me back then. He was the kid who bought me the smiley-face ring in like 7th grade but I wouldn't date him because I was too busy not caring about boys. Haha. I honestly couldn't believe he remembered me let alone what I looked like enough to recognize me 15 years later.

I thought that was pretty awesome. He was bummed I live far away now, but made me promise to come buy more imported candy next month when I'm in Michigan again. Cool conversation and half-off candy? I'm so there.

Conveniently next month when we go my little brother is getting married. Siblings getting married is always odd because I still think of them as we were when we were kids. Thankfully it's not an overly formal event, because as I was telling Holly, I don't think I own a dress. You couldn't catch frogs in them. Actually, I take that back. I believe I have a dress and it's worn for every event that requires girls in dresses. Yes, there are "black tie" events that literally require all women in a dress. No slacks and a blouse but an actual dress or you won't be let in. Same events require men in a jacket and tie, a dress shirt and slacks is insufficient. It's ridiculous.

More art will be done and uploaded soon. Mostly the stuff I mentioned in the previous blog, that I have you guys trying to figure out what goes with who. I also drew a Maelin on a piece of loose leaf paper while away from my sketch pad that I really need to put into the sketchpad before I lose her and forget. Look forward to that.

My internet where I'm staying has been super craptastic lately. I don't know what the deal is. There is construction happening down the street, perhaps it's that. I get disconnected or super laggy at random times throughout the day, which is pretty frustrating if I'm trying to do anything. So if I'm talking to you through whatever medium and randomly disappear, trust me, it's more obnoxious for me than it is for you. The internet is all I have for amusement up here! When it's gone entertainment consists of sketching things I can't upload, watching the hands on my watch go round, and playing with Lego.

Lastly, people have noticed I've been blogging more recently than I usually do. That's because there is little else to do where I'm stuck and my friends are so spread out right now keeping them all up-to-date can be difficult. Writing one blog update is far easier than telling the same story a million times.

Torture Round 3

Back from the doctor again. As you can see by the obscenely long visitation (5 hours) this one was particularly terrible. More stabbings especially. Also, more blood drawn. Rare tests that aren't usually done and will take weeks to see results because they have to be shipped out to such absurd places. Seven vials this time, though they were considerably huge ones, so I suppose it may as well have been more.

The woman who drew my blood this time was 92 years old. I kid you not. I was so worried she was going to gouge me with shaky old woman hands, but she had a surprisingly steady grip. I was pretty amazed, or my amazement could have just been lack of blood. She was amazed by me because I watch my blood draws. Like a hawk. I can't explain why I do this, but I find looking away to be more unnerving than seeing the blood.

It's been concluded that I have a neuropathy, but no one can yet figure out what caused it or how to prevent it from getting any worse. Which can only mean one thing: more torture! Unfortunately given how long this has been going on already it's unlikely the damage can be reversed. The idea will be to just stop it from getting any worse. I see another doctor, outside of current neurologist and my normal family doctor, on August 12th. After that guy's poking and prodding it'll be back to my current neurologist.

Having various sharp objects stabbed through your body isn't bad when you can't feel it, except to determine precisely where and when sensation becomes normal again I have to be stabbed in places I can feel it too.

The extensive tests already done have also managed to conclude that I don't absorb several key vitamins from food. This means I get to go once every couple of weeks to have vitamins injected into my hip with a needle. Oh yay. Torture on top of my torture.

I'll talk about the other stuff I promised yesterday later. I'm going to go drown my pain in cupcakes.

Back

I made it safely back to Ohio.

I have a ton of stuff to yap on about, but I'll save it for tomorrow after my doctor's appointment.

In the meantime:

Kerropi happened!

Drunk Shoes

Pardon vagueness, inebriated Inari is inebriated. Spell check to the fking rescue like a champ.

Riley spilled my rum and coke. Better yet she spilled it into someone's shoes while they were gone. Even better yet is Charlene picked up the ice cubes and added them to the mix. So the shoes were full of ice, rum, coke and a straw. I have pictures. They are MAGNIFICENT.

Off to see the blues band at the pub! Why do I have a flashlight in my pocket?

Arrival

I've arrived safely. I am coming to you once again courtesy of Starbucks, though consumption of alcoholic beverages has not yet commenced.

Michigan, I have learned, is home to the Beef Jerky Outlet. A warehouse shop full of nothing but miles and miles of beef jerky. I wonder if there is an included beef jerky museum? I think I may have to stop on our way back home to sate this hunger for knowledge.

I missed taking a picture of the "Bridge to Canada" sign, looked aside without thinking and said, "I'll just get it one the way back." You know... when I'm headed away from Canada. Genius I tell you. Genius.

P.S. Dark spiced rum is dark and deliciousssss.

lol (Now With Translation)

weres o dersnk its funny. I gots stuck insmy shirt and couldn't gte outs because it was a knot and all of us otgethser took like forever to get out of ist. We hung out with the band and hy made me sing was funny. Now wev'e got to gt up an like 5 hpurs! Sooooooooooooooooooo fail. I apolgsie for the drnkese. Trnsaltion omorrow if I rememmember.

Edit: Oh man, why did I not log out to prevent this sort of thing? Let me try to figure out what I was saying.

"We're so drunk, it's funny. I got stuck in my shirt and couldn't get out because the tie was in a knot. It took all of us to try to get the knot undone before I was finally able to take off said shirt and put on my pajamas.

We ended up hanging out with the vocalist/guitarist for the blues band between sets. He was a really nice guy and the band itself was pretty awesome. When they got back on stage for another set I got attacked with the mic to sing the chorus. I'm not shy! Especially not with a 5th of rum in me +2. Yeah, we finished a whole bottle and then had several more at the bar. It was one of those situations where you are already drunk so drinking more seems like a super fun idea. "

Is what the previous contents were in reference too, but these other fun bits were brought to light!

I got lost going to the restroom (I had already been to once before mind you) and wound up in the men's john curious as to when they had put urinals in the women's. That was a fun adventure.

We ended up staying until the bar closed, despite having to be up early today -- and the bar closed late. Then we hung out with the band outside the bar for a while before finally going back to our room and passing out. In the middle of sleep some random person called asking about our shoes. If you read the previous blog, you'll understand our drunken confusion thinking that someone else in the world had somehow heard about the shoe incident and knew how to contact us in regards. I'm not sure who was more perplexed, us or the guy talking to us about our shoes?

Then we wake up at 8:00am, exhausted. Good exhausted though. No hang over, which is amazing considering the obscene amount of liquor we drank. Complimentary breakfast was tasty. Hashbrowns galore, scrambie eggs, bacon, bacon, bacon, and french toast. Mm...

Check out is in a few minutes, but then we'll be headed out for fun times in the city for a while before leaving. We'll probably head home around 5pm, which would put us home at 8pm give or take a bit. I may make it to monster killing after all!

Gamer reference, sorry.

See You Soon (or Later)

Suppose it depends on location. Those of you in Michigan: soon. Those of you elsewhere: later.

/dap

Rocky Road

I just failed so bad... and since nothing is funnier than public humiliation, I'll share. The first fail is composed of rocky road icecream, a mug of coffee, and a cat. Go ahead and imagine whatever scenario containing those three things you can. It's probably at least equally ridiculous to what actually happened. The second fail is composed of a shower and no towel. I type to you drippy and cold.

This is the face of failure.

This Weekend & Typing Blindly

This weekend is Michigan time, break out the party hats!

I've had an ocular migraine all day. Which means I can't see. Well, that isn't completely true. My vision is blurred about 95% but I can see out of like a needle-eye area so if I get real close, and look down and sort of see out of the very top of my line of vision. It's difficult to explain. Think of a foggy mirror after a shower, then make the tiniest clear spot with your fingertip and that's all you can see.

Since it's like all of my vision right now that means it'll probably finally be gone soon, so that will be welcomed. Starts small and slowly slowly spreads. Pardon any typos, I am right clicking all underlined words and picking the first option in spell checker unable to truly tell if it's what I meant or not. I'm going to go grab a bowl of cereal and see if obscene amounts of sugar helps at all. Mmm... sugar...

To make matters worse, I'm also stuck at authenticating! Which means nothing to over half of you but oodles to the rest!

Return of Water

The water to our area of the city is back on, but we're under boil notice. That means any water you want to use has to be boiled for safety reasons before you can use it. Dying of starvation I decided to make Perogi, which need to be boiled anyway. Unfortunately I also boiled myself. This is why I hate cooking.

Super super hot water splashed out from under a falling perogi onto my finger. So now I have a blister.

Some guy set up a trap irl. He stood outside of a broken down car on the road so that a good Samaritan would come to his rescue. Only when the good Samaritan came he tried to car jack him. An epic battle ensued and the car jacker lost, fleeing off into the woods. But wait, not only did he fail-jack and fail-fight, he also fell into a pond while running away and then drowned. Dead. I'm not one to make light of people dying but... c'mon.

Way to fail entirely, guy.

Dreams, Phones, and Dates

No water today. None. And after that we'll have to boil water for use for a couple of days because some incompetent tool broke a water main. I'm going to feel like some hippie. No bathing, no teeth brushing.

I had a really cool dream where some of my friends and I were out of sync with time. Being so put us at some great perilous risk because there were other beings who existed out of sync with time who could now track and attack us at will. Also, being out of sync with time gave us special abilities versus those still in sync with time so revealing this secret would make them hunt us too. The entirety of the dream we are trying to defend ourselves versus these unsynced time beasts while traveling across the world to escape their domain and find someone.

Who? I'm not really sure. From what I recall it was either someone who could teach us to kill the monstrous time things or perhaps it was the person responsible for there being monstrous time things to begin with and killing them would free the world of their evil. Or maybe there were actually two separate people we were going to see. I can't remember, but it was cool either way.

Early on we were on a train and then suddenly time stopped for everyone except for us. We knew the awful entities were coming so we tried to hide or pretend time had stopped us as well. Obviously you can't trick time beasts, though, and over half of us died. The rest of us lept from the moving train the moment time sped up again and slowed only ourselves down so that we wouldn't hurt ourselves too badly. It was neat.

Far more neat than the terrible dream I had where I was stuck in a cottage in the middle of some ancient forest with my slowly dying grandfather. The entire dream he spent teaching me "The Old Ways of Our People," and he could not die until I knew them all. From his death bed he told me epic stories from "The Days Few Remember," teaching me how to purify water with leaves and fire, to hunt wild animals for food, to make salves from plants, and various other life lessons. The worst part was that on one hand I wanted to be an adept student and learn everything my grandfather was teaching me but on the other hand I knew the more willingly I learned the sooner he would be gone.

You all, or most of you at least, know how close my grandfather and I are. Dreams like that are so unsettling.

Back to reality!

I have a phone conference with various people today at 10am. Huh. That's right now. How can you be late for a soundwave meeting? Anyway... I hate phones. I have the hardest time understanding what is being said over the phone. To the point where at times I just agree mindlessly so whoever is on the other end will hang up faster and stop reminding me that my hearing blows. It's always like:

 They rant, "Blah blah blah, right?"
 And I'm reply, "Uh, yeah sure."
 Then they get upset, "Are you even listening to me?"
 To which I want to say, "YOU CALLED A DEAF PERSON ON THE PHONE, DOUCHEBAG."
 But what I really say is, "Yep."

But this conversation is supposedly some sort of important ordeal, so I will have someone else on another phone listening in and then telling me face-to-face wtf the people on the phone are saying. Frustrating, right?

Less annoying, I have a trip to Chicago planned August 20th and a trip to Michigan from there August 22nd, I think? Maybe the 21st. I am having a hard time remembering. I'll find out and clarify later. I may also be making a quickie trip to Michigan before then as well, but I have no clue as to when or if it'll even happen. I'll have to keep you posted. More chances to hang out are approaching! Huzzah huzzah. Maybe we will fall out of sync with time and...

Just You Wait

A gift arrived from my friend Aaron!

Things, I Type Them

Random time.

The hospital I went to for tests last week was sooo large that when you walk in, the information clerk gives you a map. It consisted of five or so typical sized hospital buildings connected by a series of underground tunnels, overground bridges, and many, many elevators. The place is so big that about every 500 feet you will find a phone with an "Are you lost?" sign above it, so that you can call the information clerk and try to get unlost. It's so big that every wing is color-coded and the walls are a rainbow of arrows trying to point the way.

It's equally confusing once you leave, too. There are so many parking garages that it's recommended you valet park just so you don't hopelessly lose your car. Every road connecting the hospital to the outside world is one way. So once you find your car you're unlikely to be allowed to go the direction you need to leave. On the plus side since it's such a huge place, the cafeteria is full of actual restaurants and not strange instant just-add-water hospital mush. So if we had to take up settlement there, we wouldn't starve.

Onward!

My nephews were over this weekend which is always amusing. Little Bill goes up to his mom and asks, "Why does auntie Wiggles have such big eyelashes?" To which Amanda replies, "Uhm, I don't know. It's just the way she was made!" Little Bill looks between us with all the curiosity a tiny person can muster and says, "Mom, why don't you have eyelashes?" Which is funny because of course she does, but they're blonde.

Kids learning new lessons is entertainment!

Jaidar loves the word, "Yes." He doesn't say yes, though. He says, "Yis." Like some misplaced Danish boy.

Speaking of my brother and his wife, they have been consistently getting mail for me at their house. Apparently this has been going on for like the last year? He blames it on our last names and him applying for a mail forward after moving. It's never been a problem, he just sends whatever is mine to my actual address. Sometimes it gets there, sometimes it winds up back at his house. But eventually, I actually get my hands on it. The weird part is what the mail has been recently. Apparently Huggies has decided I should be having babies. Now. They're continuously sending him diapers and discounts for baby-related merchandise with my name all over it. How creepy!

Onward moar!

As you all know well by now, I play video games. This paragraph has to do with obvious questions being obvious. I know it's said, "The only stupid question is the one never asked," but seriously. Some questions don't need to be asked.

In one of the games I play there are places you teleport into to fight big mean monsters for neat and sometimes useful weapons or armor. Now, typically the only thing to do in these places is kill stuff. So it always boggles my mind when I am in such a place and a friend notices and asks, "Hey Inari, what are you doing in ____?" Like... what do you think I'm doing? Honestly. Obvious question has obvious answer.

Furthermore, I know I'm a social caterpillar here but how about a greeting first!

Fireworks

Happy 4th of July everyone.

I figured I should write this before drunken stupor happens, this time. Make sure I get it out there to those of you I won't see today. It's party time in Inaritopia and everyone's invited! I hope you all have a splendid evening, I know I will be!

I'm Prince!

You don't have to be cool to rule my world.

 Okay, there may already be a slight bit of drunken stupor. Sorry!

Blood For The Blood God!

Or the doctor.

I was stabbed more, in more places, more times. It was pretty much as I expected it to be. What I didn't anticipate were a series of other tests including various poking, prodding, scratching, pricking, and hot and cold metal. I also did not anticipate having to give up 8 vials of my blood. I'm so light headed right now I feel high and overall I feel like I was beaten up by a horse.

They're going to call next week sometime to talk about a few of the test results from today and likely schedule some further tests in the meantime. My next actual appointment is July 27th. Another month...

I did treat myself though!

Who can be miserable with a box full of donuts, honestly?