good morning, circle

[lunabee34]

1. Conference presentation today. It's hosted by D2L, our online learning management system. Wish me luck! It's a short format. If I can't manage to talk for approximately 6 minutes about a thing I'm already doing, I should have my professor card revoked. LOL The only thing I'm low key anxious about is actually getting into the presentation venue; it's through Zoom, and I've used Zoom, and I've got the invite code, but that's the only point where something could go wrong.

2. I am feeling better re: the topamax. The stomach problems have resolved, hooray! (which means the weight loss has also probably resolved since it seems to have been based almost entirely on shitting my brains out and feeling slightly nauseated LOL) The weird tingling hasn't gone away entirely but is much less pronounced and almost never in my lips anymore, hooray. I feel much less stupid, drugged, and confused although I haven't quite decided if I am completely satisfied with where I am. Josh has reminded me that I need to actually be at this dose for long enough to acclimate before I go down to 50 mgs or reject it entirely. Compounding the issue, I have been struggling with brain fog and occasional clumsiness because of my autoimmune for years now (searching for the right word, forgetfulness, etc when I never used to do that previously), so I am having a little trouble teasing out what is me just being me and what is this drug making me dumber. LOL I mean when I was at 100 mgs and Josh and I stood in the kitchen and had a protracted conversation about a spoon that I literally could not understand and which was like an episode from a sitcom the Surrealists never wrote, I had no trouble identifying that that was indeed a Problem with These Medicines. And the next day I decreased the dosage. We'll see what happens; just wish this all was not going to bleed over into the beginning of the semester. Point of interest: when I went from 100 back down to 75, for two days I had this bizarre back of the head, almost at the base of the skull, headache at the end of the day that was almost certainly some kind of withdrawal symptom because I have never had a headache that felt like that before, and the timing was just too on the nose. This drug better make it so I never have a migraine ever again OMG. I am more than a little pissed that my neuro just so blithely prescribed it and did not explain how big of a deal taking it was going to be. Also LOLing a bit that this is the drug that is just available willynilly and the other one I'm taking is the controlled substance. Medicine in this country makes no sense.

3.

Writing For Their Lives: the Modernist Women, 1910 - 1940 by Gillian E. Hanscombe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is really interesting. I knew very little biographical information about these women before reading this book, and I've only read the poetry/fiction of a handful of them (Barnes's Nightwood, Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Loy's Feminist Manifesto, and a handful of various poems). I come away from my reading fascinated by the web of relationships among these women (and the men in their orbit), keen to read some of the novels mentioned here, and saddened by the number of them who died too young or else who died elderly but in poverty and as recluses.

(Also, OMG, I just cannot get into Gertrude Stein's writing. I very much like The Autobiography, but everything else is just nails on a chalkboard to me. All that repetition. Oh the tedium! I rather fear I am not much of a fan of Modernism which I suppose is appropriate given my predilection for the Victorians. LOL)



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Comments

[goss]

Good luck with your presentation! <3

[princessofgeeks]

wishing you all the best as you adapt to your meds, and good luck with your presentation!!!

[chelseagirl]

I like Proust and Woolf, but beyond that, Modernism loses me, too.

[oracne]

THE MODERNIST WOMEN sounds really interesting but *stares at TBR shelves*.

[executrix]

I didn't think the book was actually *good* I just thought it would give you some thoughts about women authors you might want to add to your syllabus.

[kore]

when I was at 100 mgs and Josh and I stood in the kitchen and had a protracted conversation about a spoon that I literally could not understand and which was like an episode from a sitcom the Surrealists never wrote

YIKES

I've never been able to get into Stein, either. Making of Americans, Melanctha (sp), the Autobiography -- I just bounced right off all of them. That book sounds neat, tho!

[minoanmiss]

*sends you all good fortune*

[havocthecat]

I'm on the max amount of Topamax you can take every day and I do scramble my words a little bit and sometimes reach for them, but I'm otherwise fine - after an adjustment period (and every time I upped it). I think you'll likely be okay, but the adjustment period was something like a month to six weeks?

[amejisuto]

Hope everything went well with your Zoom meeting! I always have problems getting both my face and voice going on Zoom. Then again I am doing it on my phone and not my computer. LOL.

Sounds like that med is a major one. Hopefully, that means it will work with the migraines. I'm glad you stepped down your dose though, having weird conversations about spoons is not a good thing.

[spikedluv]

I'm behind (again) but I hope the conference went well, and that all these issues with the new med turn out to be worth it. *hugs*

Also, OMG, thank you so much for the postcard! I got a huge smile on my face the moment I recognized your signature, before I read your comment or saw the art. I remember you commenting about getting those, and I'm honored that you sent one to me. *double hugs*