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Perfectly Normal Paranoia

“I never did get the hang of Thursdays.” –Douglas Adams

Yesterday I’d had a decent enough day and had been looking forward to a productive evening. Parker and I planned to have a push-up contest when we got home, before hitting up the Wii Fit for our daily workouts. But I realized that fresh batch of snow needed to be shoveled first. So we ditched our backpacks in the house and went back out with shovels. It was the dry, powdery stuff, no big deal, right? But it was coating a chunky, uneven ice layer beneath. When we’d cleared most of it I realized I ought to roll the garbage can back from the curb (Thursday being trash day and all). Though in these conditions it’s more like drag than roll, as the wheels don’t work over snow and ice. So down the driveway I went. And I mean down. I lost my footing, with my body pinned between a wall of snow and the trash bin, and twisted my knee and ankle while falling. I could feel and hear something crunching in my leg. Wound up laying in my driveway, in pain, like a turtle trapped on its back. While some neighbor kids stared on my son approached me and asked if he should call 911. “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” It wasn’t as bad as all that, but I had to give myself a moment before trying to get up. One of our only friendly neighbors, the woman across the street with the amazing landscaping, came over to assist. She helped me limp my way up the front steps and into the house. I’ve been in sloth/gimp/pity party mode ever since. At least the lad has been helpful, feeding the cats and himself, and hanging out with me. Last night I got myself to sleep with some Tylenol PM and woke up feeling hungover. Now I’m going through Wii Fit withdrawal and am not at all pleased.

Still, I’ve kept myself distracted. With work and life stuff, like paying bills and planning a potential trip. And with the escapism, as usual. Lately I’ve drifted away from the plain old terrestrial supernatural fiction and into alien territory. Watching Doctor Who, Torchwood, Invader Zim, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (the old BBC version, and the newer one with my boyfriends Mos Def and Sam Rockwell). Then there’s this amazing gem from Italians La Bionda: “Riding In Spaceship… 1984.” That mustache. Those outfits. The animation. The keyboards. The guy lip syncing the “I Wanna Be Your Lover” line looking so awkward and uncomfortable. Stellar.

Four good things for Friday, mostly gleaned from twitter, and one lame one:

Unfortunately this ridiculous injury is already interfering with our weekend plans. No sledding. No taking down the Xmas tree. No errand-running. I’d meant to have the car’s oil changed today, get a replacement headlight and pick up a few groceries. But it’s nearly 4pm and I’m still hobbling about in my PJs. Swimming could conceivably be done, if I can hobble my way into the pool (or hot tub). Perhaps tomorrow. But Sunday we are not missing out on brunch with friends, followed up by an event at Northrop Auditorium:

The Physics Force, made up of U of M professors and local high school teachers, shocks and mesmerizes audiences every year with their daring physics demonstrations. For example, imagine dropping a physics teacher from a 20 foot tower while shooting a billiard ball at him that he then catches on his way down!

With a mixture of grand-scale props, science experiments, and slapstick humor, Physics Force educates thousands of K-12 students with their own hour-long unique teaching philosophy on a larger-than-life scale.

Who doesn’t want to be shocked and mesmerized by science geeks? If only they had some slam-bang solution for my bum leg. Alas, only time will heal that. But hopefully I’ll be back on both feet before too long.

Mr. Gnome is allowed in the Lady Cave

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