Hooray for Fair Day!

I went to the fair last week with my best friend from high school. We both grew up in the neighboring town, but since neither of us had attended this event for years, we thought it would be a fun, nostalgic outing and worth driving over two hours for the experience.

We saw warehouse buildings full of salespeople, farm animals, carnival rides, and JUNK FOOD. Where did all that junk food come from? In the "old days" there were onion burgers, scones, ice cream, French fries and cotton candy. These were foods we waited to eat once a year. We were living dangerously.

Times have changed. I saw every manner of junk food a person could imagine and some unimaginable, booths of various poisons lined up and down the walkways with long lines of eager consumers.

There was even a "History of Candy" tent for the sole purpose of advertising the wonders of candy. I toured it. Lots of videos on candy production. Displays and photos of history. The propaganda was scary, like a bad movie. It made the viewer want to run to the nearest junk food booth and gorge on some candy. No mention of how it will rot your teeth, make you obese, and contribute to any number of diseases as it rots you from the inside out. I stayed for about five minutes before I realized the tent smelled like chocolate. CHOCOLATE? It took me a minute, then I looked around. There wasn't any chocolate in the tent to be bought or eaten! AIR FRESHENERS! I panicked and ran for the nearest exit! It's amazing how subtle it was, but enough to scare the life out of me.

The absolutely worse food booth was the one called TOTALLY FRIED where they deep fry anything that might be edible, or in my case, not edible. There was a t-shirt one could buy to advertise these bad dietary habits: "If They Fry It, I Will Try It". I was tempted to buy it. Here is a photo my friend took although, unfortunately, she didn't get the whole booth:

Please notice the bottom of the menu list:

SPAM AND VELVEETA CORN DOGS

 

almost as bad as

 

DEEP FRIED PEANUT BUTTER AND JAM

 

or

 

Deep Fried Snickers

 

 

Really? Why would anyone want to eat that?  I am so sheltered in my healthy, secluded lifestyle that I forget there are people out there who eat like this on a daily basis. It amazes me there were lines for these food booths and people walking around gorging on large tubs of twice-fried junk food.

 

It was like a trip to Hell...

 

 

I purposely word my posts so I can find ways to use my devils as illustrations.
They bring me much joy.

 

 

And then there were the little piglets that reminded me everything was right in the world:

 

 

 

It was fun, interesting, educational, shocking, and mostly outdoors in somewhat fresh air. Even with the candy tent poisoning, some perfume exposure, and eating ice cream from the dairy barn (!), I survived with little if any health consequences.

 

Hooray for Fair Day!



I Blame Hallucinogenic Drugs!

A friend of mine was over at my house, grasped the handrail for my back porch and broke it. Now, this handrail was garbage. It was made with found wood and hastily nailed in place to comply with insurance company demands. It was just for show, but over the years the rain has pummeled it into oblivion and it hangs precariously. Every now and then I hammer it back into place, but mostly I just ignore it.

I was in the house when it happened and heard him swear loudly. When I came out the door I asked, "What's wrong?" Then I noticed he was holding pieces of my handrail in his hand. I know he has a bad habit, like all construction workers, of grabbing and shaking things just to test their construction worthiness. He knows my construction efforts are questionable. I'm always hollering at him to not touch things. He knows it's a risk, but he ignores me.

"YOU BROKE MY HANDRAIL!!!"

He argued it was a piece of junk, and as he's frantically trying to point out the dry rot, I exclaim repeatedly,

"YOU BROKE MY HANDRAIL!!!" 

"But, but, it didn't work, I hardly touched it, I..."

"YOU BROKE MY HANDRAIL!!!" "OH MY GOD! YOU BROKE MY HANDRAIL."

I had fun harassing him.

The next morning I hear an unexpected knock. My friend is there with tools and supplies in hand and he plans to build me a new handrail! SCORE! It took him about fifteen minutes to finish. It would have taken me a whole day.

New handrail newly primed.

 

New anything is cause for celebration, especially if it's construction-related and free. After he finished, I practiced walking up and down the stairs testing my wonderful new handrail - one that actually worked and didn't wiggle. I think the insurance company would be very happy with it.

And this inspired a new painting project! The porch was pathetic and had not been painted for ten years, but it was low on my list of project priorities. Most of the paint had worn off the stairs, but I had always hoped I could replace it all with a new porch. And the handrail I just ignored. New handrails just inspire creativity.

I didn't want to repaint the brown lattice so I had to use brown in the design...I'm not fond of brown. I also knew I wanted to use dark teal and off white to match the house, and maybe an orange color to match the newly stained cedar fence. Orange is not one of my favorite design colors either, but I went with the idea. Also, this is the porch that gets the most use and is often dirty and muddy due to gardening so I needed a design that might camouflage that. Lots of visual.

Don't asked me what happened. I blame it on the weird colors I adopted. I planned one design, started painting, and hated it so I painted over that design. I was possessed, just free flow painting...it just came out. I admit it is one of my favorite flower motifs based on one of my favorite flowers, calendula, although it hardly looks like calendula. Giant floral motifs. Hmmm...

VOILA!

 

I have found people either love it, or hate it. One friend looked at it and accused me of taking too many hallucinogenic drugs. Every time he walks by it, he says that. I can tell he HATES it. LOL! I like it's weird. No one else in the world has a porch like this, although I admit if I were to do it over, it would definitely be different. Different colors. Live and learn!

 

 

I planned to put coats of polyurethane over it, but decided it might make the surface slippery and I don't want more sprained ankles in my future. Also, with all the layers of colors it might look really cool when it wears. And I can re-paint it if I get too tired of it. With polyurethane, I'd have to strip it.

The friend who made the hand railing approved. We now have an ongoing joke, if you break it, you fix it. He grabbed my nearly-rotted, newly-stained fence the other day and began to do his construction-expert inspection. Instead of hollering at him to not touch it, I told him to lean on it a little, because I need a new fence. LOL! He backed away. I said,

"Oh, no don't stop! Go ahead and grab it. Shake it vigorously!"

He backed away more. He's learning. I keep trying to get him to use my toilet too, so I can accuse him of breaking it. It needs to be fixed. Of course, I was at his house the other day using a tarp and it tore...I owe him a new tarp. Oops.

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME??

My latest doctor I first saw about five years ago. She loaded me up with pills and I had bad reactions, of course. This time I spent almost an hour explaining in detail how I seem to have an intolerance to drugs of any kind. Did she listen? She seemed to get it, and we talked at length about alternative dietary treatments, but she also slipped in a few drugs just for the fun of it. I should have stood up and screamed immediately:

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? 

But I didn't. I looked at the new drug, Low Dose Naltrexone (for inflammation) and with much anticipation for a miracle cure said, "YES! Let's try it!" I have realized this is how I contribute to the problem. They don't take me seriously because I give them conflicting messages.

However, this time I didn't jump on the drug bandwagon quite as enthusiastically as I have in the past. I AM learning! I ordered only two weeks worth of the LDN, just as a sample. On the third day I started having side effects: hip pain, neck pain, weird dreams, sleep problems, nausea, sweating, migraines and BRAIN DEATH. I lost all short term memory capabilities. And I was taking only one third of the recommended dosage. That stopped immediately.

Next I thought I'd try the Siberian ginseng from her list. This is to support the adrenals as the new doctor seems to think I'm having drug reactions because of adrenal fatigue. It is a common theory in the world of hypothyroidism that if your adrenals aren't working optimally, the thyroid drugs won't either or might cause problems. Still, I wasn't buying that adrenal fatigue was the cause of my drug intolerance.  First, I've treated any adrenal fatigue problem I might have before and it doesn't stop the drug intolerance problems nor does it make a difference with anything. Second, it's not just thyroid medication I have problems with. Third, I'm chemically sensitive and I am intolerant to drugs. Fourth, my DNA testing showed I have a gene mutation that causes detoxification issues which contributes to chemical sensitivity. The interpretation of my gene mutation clearly states I have a problem detoxing pharmaceuticals as does my latest gastrointestinal test. This seems clear to me. I can read these test results. Why can't she? I tried to explain this to the new doctor. Her response was, "I'm not sold on all this DNA testing." Again, I should have stood up and screamed:

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?

Still, like the brain-dead patient I am (due to previous drugs), I dove right in and decided it's a good idea to poison myself again. However, I AM learning. I didn't buy pills. Instead I found an herbal shop that sold the real root for tea. I wasn't sold on the Siberian ginseng, but what I didn't realize is I have notes from taking it a few years ago. In my (faulty) recollection, I thought I didn't have a problem with ginseng. However, on the third day I had slight neck pain. Didn't think anything of it. The next day unexplained fatigue followed by slight depression, but again, I passed that off as minor as could have been caused by anything. I am my worse nightmare. I don't even listen to myself! I ended up running out of tea only to buy more and start again. The fatigue became unbearable with headaches, weird dreams, and extreme dizziness if rising too fast while gardening. Finally, I found my Siberian ginseng notes from a few years ago...same reactions then, right down to the bizarre gardening-induced vertigo.

I emailed the new doctor and explained AGAIN about my intolerance to drugs of any kind. She suggested when I come in for the next appointment she'll have to tweak the prescription and we'll experiment how best to take it because, hell or high water, she will make sure I'm taking drugs! Again, I wanted to scream:

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?

Next on the list: thyroid. I am of the belief all my issues from foot/leg pain to kidney damage is related to my untreated thyroid issues. My previous doctor, the crazy one, was also treated to a lengthy description on my bad reaction to dessicated thyroid. Her response was, "OK, I"ll give you a prescription for dessicated thyroid." I should have stood up and screamed:

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?

I went into great deal with my new doctor about the last four thyroid prescriptions and how they all nearly killed me, especially the dessicated thyroid. Again, I repeated my descriptions of drug intolerance. Her response was, "OK, I'll give you a prescription for dessicated thyroid." Again, I should have stood up and screamed:

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?

Instead, I calmly explained AGAIN I had very bad reactions to dessicated thyroid and called attention to the fact every thyroid drug I've taken has had one thing in common, besides my horrible intolerance to them, they all have T3. Is it possible I am reacting badly to T3? Also, my T4 labs are low. Not my T3 labs. I also explained AGAIN Dr. Kharrazian's theory of hypopituitary caused by over medication. My side effects are exactly as he described and if I'm not detoxing the drug, I am being over medicated because my body is hoarding it.

She thought about that for a minute and prescribed just T4. Finally I felt heard. But it's like pulling teeth.

What is it that makes doctors not want to listen to me? It's such a waste of time to go into such detail and I'm ignored constantly. I have to explain details repeatedly, emphasize lab results, point to what I think is very obvious data I've collected throughout my health history with evidence from books and websites, yet they persist in following their own agenda. How many times must I repeat myself and correct their assumptions in order to get viable medical attention? And I'm paying THEM for this. I may need to start screaming:

ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?

Still, I need a doctor. If I start screaming at them, no one will want to work with me. I legally can't prescribe my own drugs. I am convinced I am drug intolerant because I am chemically sensitive. I don't detox chemicals whether they be chemicals found in food, air, water, or drugs. I hoard the chemicals in my body creating overload consequently creating more misery. This was diagnosed by an environmental specialist years ago and recently supported by DNA testing that clearly suggests I have a detoxification mutation. Still, I need my thyroid issues treated, if only to see if they alleviate the foot/leg pain and rectify the kidney damage. Untreated thyroid can also cause heart failure. I don't want my organs to start failing. Something must be done and I seem to be the only one who can do it.

I realize I'm on my own. I'm treating myself. I'm hoping my theories are right. So my new plan is to try the T3, but not take it every day in order to avoid overload. We'll see...

Tiny House with ELECTRIC Bed

What a brilliant idea! Especially for people who don't want to climb ladders into a loft. I can barely manage stairs as it is. I fear the older I get the harder climbing anything is going to get.

August Movie Reviews

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.   I loved this movie when I was a kid and over the years I've probably seen it twenty times. Love Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Love "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head". Love Wild West movies. I just read a book on the Hole in the Wall Gang and the book mentions this movie several times so I was inspired to see it again. It's very dated, but still great. *****

Cake is about a woman with chronic, debilitating pain, both physical and emotional. To add to her misery, her friend from their chronic pain support group kills herself. Jennifer Aniston was AMAZING!! ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING!! Her pain was believable. I felt the discomfort right through the TV. Incredibly performance. She was sarcastic and irritable, wore no make-up, her hair was always messy, and she looked very pudgy and bloated. I like this Jennifer Aniston. A real woman!! The story was a little depressing so it's not the type of movie I'd want to see again, but very good. ****

The Fairy is a bizarre, yet mesmerizing French love story about a fairy who grants a man three wishes. It's really fascinating and artsy with 1940's style slapstick modernized with acrobatics and dance. I especially love their dance on the roof and, of course, when the fairy gets pregnant. I actually can't get the pregnancy scene out of my head. LOL. There are subtitles. You'd think after five years of French I wouldn't need them. HA. ***

Hector and the Search for Happiness is about a psychiatrist who becomes disenchanted with his work and his predictable, perfectly controlled life and sets out to search for what makes people happy. The story was OK for a typical live-your-life-to-the-fullest-because-soon-you-will-die theme. I often have high hopes for these themes and expect some kind of epiphany on how to fix my own life, but they usually miss the mark or fall flat. This one was good. The art was great but it was added more as an after-thought where I think I would have liked more to make it more purposeful. Or I just like art. Love the actor who plays Hector. There was something authentic and sweet about him. Toni Colette has a minor role, but I always like her. ***

Horns was incredibly interesting for the first hour. It's about this guy who's girlfriend is murdered and the whole small-town community thinks he did it. Beautiful northwest scenery and adorable little town. They must have filmed it in British Columbia. YEP, they did - I just looked. Then he curses God and grows some horns. I'm not clear on why he grew horns so the whole premise seemed weak to me. Why is he the only one with horns when you know nearly half the community deserves horns? So I just went with it...it's a movie...whatever.  His horns make everyone he encounters disclose their most evil secrets and desires. It's really funny especially the doctor: "Hey, do you want to crush up some oxycotin and snort it with me???" LOL! Not everyone he encounters has a compulsive, uncontrollable urge to confess their sins and that's a mystery, too. Then he figures out he can suggest things to people and they do it. Lovely revenge. So it's a bit of a murder mystery gone wrong and then near the end it gets really weird with special effects. I would have preferred less weirdness. There were lots of obvious and not so obvious religious themes. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) was good and adorable (them beautiful blue eyes) although he seemed to be over-acting most of the time. It was an all-star cast with many recognizable faces. ***

Interstellar was WAY OVER MY HEAD. I really had no idea what was going on most of the time and all that science talk was like a foreign language. It's the future, everything on Earth is covered with a thick layer of dusty dirt and this rogue science team that is what is left of NASA is trying to find us another planet. The best astronaut in the world just happens to be Matthew McConaughy and he's a corn farmer. (Really?) He decides to leave his children to save the world which I thought was self-centered and thoughtless. Too many long, drawn out space scenes with unknown parts fitting into other unrecognizable parts. Really I was clueless, but underneath it all was the human apocalyptic story that was good, but sad. We are all going to die....it was a long 3 hour movie so it's a very, very slow death. The ending was good. ***

The Longest Week ...hmmm...I'm not sure what the point was on this one. It's about an almost-forty-something guy who is filthy rich, his parents left for a world tour when he was 10 years old and never came back. He lives in the penthouse of the hotel they own and has been raised by his servants for thirty years. Then it's all taken away when his parents decide to get a divorce and neither wants to pay his bills. He's forced to question his existence since he has never really done anything, but it never really addresses it. It's just a week of worrying that he's lost it all and then he goes back to his life. No great lessons to be learned about productivity or wealth or life. It was one of those movies where it was neither a drama nor a comedy. It was kind of...nothing...but tolerable. **

Mr. Turner is about J. M. W. Turner, the English painter. Did he really grunt like that? It was a bit creepy for me. Did he really fondle his housekeeper all the time? And if so, how do they know that or are they taking liberties to make the movie more interesting? I normally really love art history movies, but I fear I will be forever haunted by this actor's portrayal of the artist and never be able to look at Turner's art again without hearing that grunting noise and feeling repulsed. Ewww. The English scenery was beautiful, but the scenes were incredibly staged, disjointed and slow. Most of the time the actors looked as if hitting their marks and saying their corresponding lines were more important than acting natural. The story never went anywhere. *

Spare Parts is about a group of Hispanic high school students who enter a contest to create an underwater robot. The students are undocumented and live daily with the fear they will be discovered and deported. Their motivation is to gain recognition or status in order to secure much needed jobs, but failing to realize their illegal status restricts them from working. (I'm not sure why they don't understand recognition might be dangerous especially since one kid is running from ICE, but, hey, it's a movie.) Their efforts are guided by an unemployed engineer-turned-teacher and motivated by a student who believes in the American dream regardless of all the roadblocks he faces. It's sweet and heartwarming with a typical pro-education theme to make you want to believe teaching is rewarding. I think Hispanic viewers would really like it since it deals with the problems they face, but it was a little too sweet to be truly realistic.  **

Still Alice is a movie about a woman with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and how she struggles with going from a vibrant, intelligent, articulate woman to losing everything including herself. Julianne Moore plays the leading role and won the Oscar for Best Actress. Well-deserved, I might add. It's very scary and disturbing. I can't imagine. Unfortunately with my genetic mutations that make me prone to Alzheimer's I may not be limited to imagining it in the future anyway. At one point Alice says it would be better to have cancer - a disease everyone supports by running marathons and donating money - rather than having a disease that makes you an embarrassment. I watched the special features about filming and there was mention that Alzheimer's is on the top ten list for killer diseases but the only one in this list that does not have some kind of drug therapy or a way to alleviate symptoms. One of the scenes was particularly heartbreaking. Great movie. ****

This is 40 is about a couple who are turning forty. It's advertised as a comedy and the leading actress, Leslie Mann, has great comedic timing. I really like Paul Rudd. Unfortunately it's another marital comedy where everyone is fighting and screaming at each other, spouses, kids, grandparents. I never find these funny even if they have decent jokes. Maybe they hit too close to home and only people who grew up with functional families can laugh at the misery of the rest of us? Half way through the movie I almost turned it off and I think if I had I wouldn't have missed much. As it was I probably had another ten minutes to go and I turned it off anyway. Oh well. **