Monday, September 12, 2005

En Fjern Og Fin Musik

It’s been a good day today.

I started by calling work. Talked to Sanne. She’s real nice. I get the feeling she cares about me. That is a good feeling. So, I told her how the surgery had gone and how I was doing. And I thanked her for the book they sent to me. We had a nice little talk.

Then I called Signe, the therapist. I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to her before I went to the hospital. So I needed to tell her what was going on. She was supportive too, of course. Said I sounded happy. Heh.

After all the phone fun I went for a walk. I left the house for the first time since the operation. Can you guess where I went?

I went to the playground of course. It’s a pretty short walk from here. And I missed the animals.

It was great to see them again.

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I am sure you have missed the pictures too. I am sure.

I had to be a little careful. Couldn’t have them jumping all over me. Well, I couldn’t quite stop that of course. But I did manage to avoid getting myself hurt. And I’m glad they hadn’t forgotten me. They came baahing as soon as they spotted me. Little sweethearts.

It was okay to walk outside. Felt strange to not worry about my chest. Also felt strange to have that tight vest thing on. It’s all new and strange sensations. I am still a little sore, still hurt a little at times. Still don’t sleep completely easy at night.

Got my Lost DVD set today. Sweet, sweet goodness. I think there’s about 10 days till season 2 starts. I wonder if I can get through all of season 1 before that? I’ll have to watch a couple of episodes a day. I am nothing if not ambitious.

The only bad thing is that Tina’s message board (Danish site) is filling up with people saying how great the concert was yesterday. Well, that’s not bad of course. Good for them. But it just makes me all the more disappointed that I missed it. I saw snippets of it on the local news. Made me ache to be there. But okay, there will be other chances, almost as good.

Coming up next: The dramatic surgery story. Probably. If I can tear myself away from Poe, Lost and Stargate.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Gas Raid From Mars

I keep going to the bathroom and looking in the mirror to make sure my breasts aren’t growing back.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Pennies From Heaven

I am tired. I didn’t sleep too well last night. I can’t sleep on my side now. It hurts and I don’t want the stitches to tear and die in my sleep in a pool of blood. You know?

It feels a little like torture. Not being able to lie on my side. It’s not so much having to sleep on my back. It’s having to sleep only on my back. I need to toss and turn. Lie on my left, lie on my right. Lie on my stomach. I usually never sleep on my back. But now I’m locked in that position.

I guess I will have to try and get used to it. Or hope that I’ll be able to sleep on my side again soon.

Apart from that little thing, I am doing fine. Only a little pain when I move around too much. As long as I keep still then the only thing I feel is that tight vest around my chest. Now I know what girls go through with their bras.

And you know I’ve wondered.

But seriously, folks. I’m feeling quite happy. Next Friday I’ll go back to the hospital and get the stitches removed. And then it’s just a matter of waiting. I have to wear this vest thing for up to 3 months, so it will be a while before I’m back to normal. But it’s worth the wait, cause I’ll be back to normal.

Didn’t get my Lost DVDs today. But I got something else in the mail. A package from work. They sent me a gift. How sweet of them! I didn’t expect that at all. It’s a book. An Edgar Allan Poe book. Probably Anders’s suggestion, since he commented on the Poe book I had at work. This one is a big collection of longer tales, I think. Very cool. Now I have something to read. Until my DVDs arrive. Haha.

I am in high spirits. Feeling positive about the future. I feel like going outside and walking around without a jacket on. Just because I can.

Alritey then. Enjoy your weekend ev’rybody. I shall be writing a more detailed account of the whole surgery and hospital stay soon. So look forward to all the gory details.

And did I mention that I love you guys? I love you all like muffins on a sugar tree.

Oh and Katherine, you were right. Being anesthetized was fun. I wish I had a home-anesthetizing kit. That’d take care of the sleep problem.

2 Responses to “Pennies From Heaven”

  1. Katherine Says:

    And in the fall we’ll be your sugary halloween pumpkins. Muffins is summer wardrobe :) Enjoy Poe. He sure knew how to write! P.S. Purple is the fall fashion colour this year, so once you’re out of stitches you should buy a nice purpley shirt.

  2. Mister Moy Says:

    Wow, dude. Hang in there. Don’t pick at the stitches — if you’re worried about them coming open (don’t worry, they won’t!) you can put some soft pillows under your side when you sleep, that helps some people feel more comfortable after surgery.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

A Friend Of Youse

Hi everybody. I’m back from the hospital.

Tired and sore. But doing fine. As long as I don’t move too much then there’s no problemo.

Surgery went fine. I am wearing a strange vest-like undergarment and bandages. And I’m swollen. But when I look in the mirror I sort of have to smile.

Everything went fine. I will tell you all about it later. Thank you for the well wishes and support. You guys are the best.

Now if only my Lost DVDs would get here soon…

8 Responses to “A Friend Of Youse”

  1. milla Says:

    Hey! :))) Welcome back! So good to hear everything went well :) Good 4 you dear Plume!

    Best wishes,
    Mills

  2. Valja Says:

    yay!! Glad to hear everything’s ok, Plume!!! :)

  3. Florida Girl Says:

    Glad to hear you’re back and that everything went well.
    I wish you a speedy recovery!

  4. Katherine Says:

    Glad to hear you’re doing well. I hope they gave you some outstanding painkillers…the kind that make you feel like whistling Dixie in a sleepy kind of way.

    If it’s any consolation, The OC season 3 started tonight. It’s a terrifically silly show and I’m as addicted to it as I am Lost. I’ve built a list of all the shows I like and the dates they start up as this is the month for the return of our favourite entertainments.

    In the meantime, George Bush and his merry band of asshats is entertaining me a great deal…they’re so icky evil, they could be fiction. Great source of info, videos and witty banter is crooksandliars.com

    Hey, I saw a Danish film last week called The Five Obstructions (Fem benspænd, De). It was darn good.

  5. grant Says:

    Now, is the time to heal. I am happy to hear you are doing well.

  6. Julie Says:

    Glad you’re ok! :)

  7. Belinda Says:

    Glad to hear that everything went well!! Good to have you back.

  8. Anne Says:

    Bare så flot. Som jeg sagde – du betalte forud i det store regnskab, så nu er du fremme ved de go’e bunker. For værst er dog at sidde som gammel med mindet om ikke at turde.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The Fabulous Life Of

So, tomorrow is the big day. At 9 am I’ll be on the table.

I don’t think I have ever had surgery before. I have vague recollections of spending time in hospitals as a very young kid. And there are all the broken arms and legs and whatnots. But I don’t think I have been fully anesthetized before. It’s a little scary. And hard to spell.

Do you dream when you’re anesthetized? I wonder.

It is odd. That it’s finally going to happen. I have been wishing for this for as long as I can remember. For 20 years at least. Never really figured it was possible. I could barely leave the house, how could I make this happen? But now it’s happening. And I am happy. I know it’s not going to live up to my highest expectations. I’m not going to come out of it as a new and better person with a carefree life. But if everything goes well then it is still going to be something very good for me.

Sanne hugged me when I left work today. Odd as well. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought she was joking at first. Making that funny voice she sometimes does, stretching her arms out. “Then you need a hug” and I stretched my arms out and said “okeeey”. And thought she would break it off. But she didn’t, and we hugged. And that was very nice. A year ago that sort of close contact would have made me feel bad. Now it’s just a good feeling.

I went to the playground after work. Spent a good long time with the goats. I guess I won’t be seeing them for a little while. I will miss them. They’re a great mental pick-me-up. If you could pack them in pills then I would be back in health in no time.

I made a bunch of videos for myself. So I have some goat fun to entertain myself with while I’m stuck at home. That will keep a smile on my face.

I think I have got everything prepared. A couple of books. An MP3 player with Tina Dickow, Mew, Eels, Gorillaz and various mainstream junk. A notebook and pen. My oldest camera. Just in case I wake up in the middle of the operation and need to get evidence of malpractice. Haha.

Hah.

No really, I’m scared of waking up in the middle of it all. Like if the anesthesia malfunctions and I will be conscious and feel everything. My life always resembles old horror movies, it’s bound to happen.

No, no. It’ll be fine. I am not worried. Really, I’m more worried about fasting and getting up early. I’ll be tired and starving. And then I’ll have to spend the night in the hospital. Away from the safety of home. To me that’s worse than being cut up a treat.

But you all take care while I’m away. I’ll be back in a couple of days. If nothing else then to delete the spam that will have piled up in the guestbook.

Send good vibes. When I’m coming back I might not be a new and better Plume, but hopefully I’ll be in a new and better body.

(after 6 months of pain and discomfort at least)

6 Responses to “The Fabulous Life Of”

  1. Florida Girl Says:

    Good luck tomorrow!
    You’ll do great.
    I’ll be thinking about you and hoping that all goes well.

  2. Belinda Says:

    Good luck for tomorrow! I’ll be thinking of you.

  3. milla Says:

    Go Plume! Fingers crassed! I’m sure there are surgery fairies and one will be looking out for ya (a pretty one, I’m sure ;)
    Know that there will be a surprise waiting for you soon :)
    My best wishes to ya, dear Lasse! :)))

  4. Valja Says:

    fyi, being anesthetized (err, if that is how it’s spelled …) isn’t scary — I’ve gone under four times (yay surgery.) and I have never dreamed (or have any memory of that time at all, which is the odd thing about it) What I do, though, is wake up and say super random mean things to people — or so they say, I have no memory of that either, but the explanation is that the drug lowers inhibitions, so the confused post-op me gets defensive and mean and says exactly whatever her fogged up brain is thinking. Not that you should expect to say random mean things, most people don’t do that …. just my story of the day.

    Seriously though, I am glad you have such a positively realistic outlook. :) That’ll come in handy when you wake up!

    I’ll be sending good thoughts/vibes your way tomorrow. :)

  5. Katherine Says:

    Being anesthetized is kind of fun. You get to count backwards from 10 and by 6 or so you’re completely unconscious. It’s like being enveloped in black velvet and you don’t dream. It’s peaceful. I’m sure everything will go fine and soon you’ll be home watching Lost and drinking your favourite drinks and eating your favourite eats. Godspeed!

  6. hanne Says:

    hey, you should be home by now eh?
    i wonder how youre doing.
    hope you wont have pain for too long etc

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Forever’s Falling Down

If I don’t, make it back,
From the city, then,
It is only because,
I am drawn away

I love Mew. I’m looking forward to the new album. Mew And The Glass Handed Kites. Nice.

And The Zookeper’s Boy is great. Although I want them to sing “Are you my baby, are you? my baby are you? Are you?”. Instead of Lady. Although I guess they don’t need me to rewrite their songs for them.

But I had a few things to catch up with from the past week.

As I have mentioned Poul Erik is stopping at work. So we celebrated him.

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The four of us. Poul Erik on the left. Sanne in the middle, she insisted on sitting in the sun. And Anders on the right.

I have also mentioned that we made a mug for him. The going away present.

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Unwrapping.

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And unwrapped.

I made the illustration. The quality of it wasn’t amazing. Here’s the file:

krus

And then imagine the quality degraded and slapped on a mug. But still a nice gift I think. At least now he won’t forget.

And the funny part? He isn’t actually leaving after all. He’s going to stay on as a volunteer for a while. He doesn’t know what he will be doing now. And since I’m going to be out for a week or two because of my operation he’s going to stay and help at the office.

So t’was kind of odd to have a goodbye celebration when he isn’t really saying goodbye yet. But such is life. If it gives you oranges then give the oranges to the needy and help them plant an orange tree.

And the little celebration itself went fine. I didn’t say a whole lot, but I did butt in with a few words now and then. A joke here, a “mhm” there. And most importantly, I didn’t feel scared. Sitting in a social situation and feeling comfortable, that is a wonderful feeling.

I had some very tired days, exhausted periods. When I’m really tired and have no energy I usually go up and get my glass of lemonade and have lunch early. I did that a couple of times in a row. Went up before 11 am. That’s when the bar opens, but even if I go up earlier they are still nice enough to serve me. Not like pouring a glass of lemonade is so hard. But nice of them. Then the following day I went up at a more normal hour and Wilma said “Oh we were just waiting for you”. Because they thought I’d be coming early again, you see? The point of this anecdote? Just that Wilma is very nice. I like her. She’s always kind to me. And smiling. Most of the people who work up in the bar/restaurant are very nice. Thomas, who used to work in our office, is still up there. He always says my name a lot. “Hi Lasse”. “Here you go Lasse”. “Do you want fries with that Lasse?”. (I made the last one up). I like that too. I don’t have a very strong self-image, you know? My sense of my own identity is somehow strengthened when he keeps using my name like that. Does that make sense? It’s just nice to be known. To be a part of the place. To be welcomed with smiles. It’s not like we’re best friends forever. But I feel welcome and accepted. And that means a lot to me.

I also mentioned that Mads was starring in some kind of performance in the festuge. The festive week. I actually did manage to go down and try to see him. I talked to Sanne about it and told her that I’d use it as part of my therapy and training. And she said it was okay for me to go. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see Mads perform. I was too late. I did hear him baahing backstage though. Haha. He was starring in a Hans The Clopper part of a Hans Christian Andersen performance. It wasn’t really a play as such. It was more of a “virtual Hans Christian Andersen court yard experience” as I understood it. You had a big court yard and then there were lots of Hans Christian Andersen characters and situations. And the kids could go around and pretend to be part of the fairytales. It was for kids yes. Ages 3-6. So maybe it would have been a little odd for me if I had gone in while it was running hehe. Not the odd one out, but the old one out. I already felt a bit weird when I was trying to find where Mads would be. I had to ask some people if they knew anything about a goat in one of the performances.

“I heard that there is a goat in one of the performance, can you tell me which one it is and where it would be?”
“A goat?”
“Yes, he’s going to be in one of the perfomances”
“What’s his name?”
“He’s called Mads”
“Wait a minute, let me just go check”.

More or less like that. Funny.

But as I said, the performance was over. So I went back to work. And I took a look at their website. And found that they actually did multiple performances. Shows at 10, 12 and 14. I had been there around 11:20. D’oh. If I had waited around then I could have seen the next one. But oh well.

After work I went to the playground. And Mads was still away on actor duty. So I got to hang around with just Magnethe and Mathilde. That was nice. Mads is so aggressive and dominant, it’s hard to just sit down and play with Magnethe without getting interrupted for example.

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So we had some good times.

Mads did come back while I was still there. He seemed unusually subdued. Maybe he was overstimulated. I can just imagine him in the middle of a flock of little kids. He must have gotten a ton of attention. And good food backstage. He seemed almost uninterested in me. Didn’t even want to chase away Magnethe while I gave her some carrot.

It was kind of odd seeing him like that. A little spooky almost. A whole other Mads. But he did get back to his old self around the time I started to leave. I picked some leaves and fed them to Magnethe and Mathilde. And then he came running as fast as he could and butted Mathilde away. And wanted all the leaves for himself. Good old Mads. He’s a handful, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Tall just like a giraffe, you have to climb to find its head. But if there’s a glitch, you’re an ostrich. You got your head in the sand. Friends only.

Time to go. My operation is on Wednesday. I am scared and excited and happy and worried and much more. But I’ll write about that one of the next days.

in a big big way I am really small

2 Responses to “Forever’s Falling Down”

  1. Anne Says:

    Lige kommet hjem fra HCA-parade i København, men der var heller ingen geder. Rart, at du stadig er kæk – go’ vind på onsdag. Vi i CyperVillage følger med og sender masser af gode tanker. Også fra Winnie, som nu er hjemme fra Sydamerika.

  2. grant Says:

    What does one say for an operation? Break a leg? No that doesn’t sound right. I think “Best Wishes” goes best with this occasion. I hope all goes well for you. Hopefully this can be a catalyst for a new start for you.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Send My Echo Out

The earthly goings ons will have to wait for tomorrow. Today I should like to ask for help. I have been playing around with Photoshop to see if I could enhance my pictures a wee bit. So if you could take a look and give me your opinion, that would be supér.

firefire photoshopped

And

goatsgoats photoshopped

So what you think? Too much editing? Not enough? Any versions preferred or just not enough difference to make you care?

2 Responses to “Send My Echo Out”

  1. Julie Says:

    Fire #2 loses some detail in the wood, but I like #2 better overall. The goats, I can’t tell a difference at all. Of course, I’m tired and blind. :)

  2. Valja Says:

    Liked the photoshopped fire better, but couldn’t tell the difference between the pictures of the goats. (of course, I’m not as observant as I should be genereally, so I’m probably being blind and missing something ….)

Less Peculiar Ground

Can you boil a cucumber? It consists of mainly water right?

I think I dreamt about boiling cucumbers. Or at least, boiling something that wasn’t meant to be boiled.

How come potatoes become so much better when you boil them, yet carrots just become worse?

I wonder what would happen if you boiled your own hand. While it was attached to you, I mean. I know it’s a gross idea. I just wonder what it would be like. Could you take a bite out of yourself? And if so, would that be cannibalism? Is there a word for eating yourself?

I dreamt about breasts too, that’s much better. As long as they’re not my own, I mean.

Friday, September 02, 2005

The Ways Of Your Desire

I am not tired today. Which is rather odd, since I didn’t sleep too well last night. Go figure. My tiredness level is always unpredictable.

It was my own fault, last night. Thunder and lightning and rain. I lay in the dark and listened to it. Normally I sleep with earplugs in my ears, but I left them out. There is something soothing about a good storm. (I just realized that this might sound inappropriate, considering the Katrina situation. But obviously I didn’t mean anything like that).

The room lit up by a bright flash. And then waiting for the thunder to roll in. Thunder is awe inspiring. It’s like the heavens are shaking. Sometimes it feels like it will break apart the sky.

I remember I always found it really cool when we learned about nordic mythology in school. Thor’s hammer and all that jazz. I imagined how it must be to have the heavens roaring and not knowing what it was. So powerful that it had to be gods.

The more we learn, the less likely magic seems.

I was looking at stars some nights ago. Before bedtime. Standing outside in our back yard, enjoying the cool night air. Clear skies full of pinhole stars. It really does look sort of like a dome, doesn’t it? A big dome over our heads with little holes that let in the light from whatever majestic galactic party is going on on the outside.

Maybe if you’re really quiet you can hear the music…

Yeah, all those stars drip down like butter
Promises are sweet
We hold out our pans, lift our hands to catch them
We eat them up, drink them up, up, up, up

Hey, let me in
Hey, let me in

I know it’s the biggest cliché in the book, but looking up at the stars really makes me feel tiny. Ant in the farm. When I look at the stars I get a great need for answers. Answers I don’t need. Answers that probably don’t exist. But it’s hard not to ask the questions anyway. Life, love, the universe and everything.

Like God. I was thinking about God. Or faith, really. We don’t know there is a God, right? So we have to base it on faith. Blind faith, because there is no evidence. There is evidence that points against God, but not for him. I don’t think it’s fair to ask for blind faith. You could put blind faith into anything. I could believe Ronald McDonald is God. There is as much proof. What does blind faith prove anyway? It’s like an on/off switch. You don’t have to actually think about it, you just have to turn it on or off. “Okay, I’ll believe in God”. Blind faith is nothing. Faith can be strong, but blind faith is arbitrary. If I was God I would not be impressed by masses of blind faith. It wouldn’t mean anything.

You know?

Probably not. I’m having problems communicating what I wanted to say. I should have written this down right when I thought about it, instead of a week later!

Sorry, this entry wasn’t meant to be quite so stargazing. Tomorrow I will catch up with the down-to-Earth goings ons.

Top o’ the weekend to ya.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Cover Up Your Footprints

I was going to write a long and exciting entry just now.

Start again.

I was going to write a long entry just now. But I’m so tired. I have been so tired all day. No energy. I’m like one of those bunnies in the battery commercials. I’m the bunny with the cheap, crap battery. And all the other bunnies have left me behind.

When I get tired I make bad metaphors. No, not metaphors. That other thing. When it’s spelled the same backwards and forwards.

Good thing it’s almost weekend.

I was going to write something about hurricane Katrina. I can’t believe what’s going on in America. How could this happen? I didn’t pay much attention to it at first because.. it’s a hurricane. It happens every year, right? Now they’re saying there are thousands dead and so on, you know the damage. It’s shocking. My best wishes to everyone out there. What can you really say in an online journal that would make any difference? Words are powerful but sometimes they just aren’t enough.

And on that note, goodnight.