So no podcast this week, as somewhat originally planned; Mike’s still microphone shopping. But at least I was able to resume my boxing lessons with him this past Tuesday night, this time on the roof of my apartment, which makes for a great place to spar, in additional to people watching and getting drunk (and those who like to smoke, like Katie, like to do it up there as well). I’d love to maybe get a small grill for a possible rooftop party later down the road.
But anyhow, as expected, both my arms had the strength as well as the consistency of overcooked spaghetti all day yesterday. On top of them becoming all puffy, thanks to a visit to the allergist. Last week, my allergies came back with a vengeance after being completely absent all last year (which I thought was maybe due to the my trip to Japan, which also managed to clear my skin and basically flush all the toxins out of my body, but as I’ve recently learned, last year was simply an extremely mild year for allergies). Which is also why I hadn’t seen my doctor in about two years, so I wondered if he would remember me… especially since I would imagine any NYC-based doctor must see like two hundred people a day, everyday. Well I got my answer the very second I walked in his office…
“Hey, I remember you! You’re that guy that’s allergic to EVERYTHING!”
As I might have mentioned at the time, when I first saw the guy and went through his battery of tests, I came up positive for basically every single thing under the sun (with the only exception being egg whites I believe), enough to make me the worst case he had ever seen in his ten plus years of practicing. Anyhow, I made a return trip to get some more meds, but mostly because yesterday was the day my health insurance ran out (along with the pink slip, my now former employer was kind enough to give me an extra month of coverage… which means today marks an entire month since I got shit-canned… yay). Plus, I had to ask a question on the behalf of Katie; when I asked if I needed to undergo retesting, the doc was pretty confident that I was more than likely just as bad as before. But when I asked if I was also allergic to cats, for some reason, that area was left blank from my previous test, so mini test was then commenced. And, I am indeed allergic to cats (Katie wanted to know because she really wants a kitten…). Not by a crazy degree, but just enough to make living with one very uncomfortable. Also found out that I’m apparently very allergic to almonds, but like some of the other things that got huge red flags, I never knew or noticed. Anyhow, new meds were prescribed, including some super power eye drops, after he checked my tear ducks out and immediately went “Oh my God.” Plus once again, it was recommended that I pick up an EpiPen, which is this huge needle that you inject yourself with if something lethal enters the system. In my case it’s shellfish, and like last time, the doctor and his nurses could no fathom how I could walk around freely without on in my bag, just in case. But those things are fucking expensive as hell (and totally Robocop-ish).
Almost immediately afterwards was yet another doctor’s visit! As stated, yesterday was my last day to take care of long-standing medical issues, such as… and perhaps this is too personal, but fuck it: some time ago, I had a little accident while having sex. Without getting into too many details, I was in the middle of the act of making love when my partner at the time slipped and bent my penis. Which hurt like hell, naturally. Yet I decided to work through the pain and get right back on that saddle. And then, BAM, it happened a second time. Once more, I tried to forget about it and go back to work… but this time, it just wasn’t happening. I then pulled out and looked down to notice blood in my condom. I wasn’t bleeding heavily, but anytime blood comes out of your wiener, it fucking sucks. And then I kinda went into shock for a bit… though afterwards I was mostly really sore, though spending the entire rest of the day with an ice pack in my crotch did alleviate the pain. Friends of mine all advised that I go and see a professional ASAP, but I was jobless and without insurance at the time, and therefore couldn’t really do anything. So I just took it easy, didn’t have sex for a while, and hoped that whatever was wrong inside wang would just work itself out. Which it basically did… or so I thought. Despite those same friends stating that if there is a problem and it goes unchecked, I could have serious sexual problems later down the road, such as impotency, the thought of which did scare the shit out of me, I still never bothered to see a doctor once I did get a full-time job that offered medical benefits simply because the pain was out of mind, out of sight.
Then all of a sudden, much like my allergies, my junk began to feel a little funny. For you dudes out there, imagine if you had a something really small, like a sesame seed, lodged inside your member. It’s not big enough to cause any serious blockage… but it is noticeable, and obviously not supposed to be there. Truth be told, it actually feels kinda good, since it makes that special part of a man’s body extra sensitive, and therefore any pleasurable sensation is somewhat heightened. But fears that this might be a precursor to something serious definitely ran past my mind, hence the visit. And the doctor said… everything was fine. Or at least appeared to be; nothing seemed weird from his examination. It might be just something that I’ll have to live with, unless I’m in any sort of pain, in which case I would have to see a urologist, but the doctor noted that deeper poking and prodding might actually make things worse, so that’s a last resort. So the only noteworthy thing here is, naturally, the doctor had some trainee with him to sit and observe as he went about his business. Before asking to examine my private parts, he did say that if I wanted, I could ask the young girl to leave, but I was “Nah… She’s gotta learn, right?” Which is true, but now that I think about it, I’m afraid my lack of embarrassment/almost over eagerness to expose myself to a complete strange might be interpreted as somewhat creepy.
As for today, my one month anniversary of being without a full time job, I’m just going to do the same thing I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks: continue working on some freelance, look for more freelance, plus keep looking for another full time gig (though since I’m now without health insurance, I’m guess I?ll have to be a bit more serious about the latter). Plus get some more UNLUCKYs printed up (for those waiting for your copies, thanks for being patient!), as well as play some more Persona 3: FES, which I’ve really gotten into, especially as of yesterday, after some really neat stuff went down. So yes… instead of exploring the streets of Liberty City, and stealing cars and shooting cops like everyone else is, with the biggest game of this generation (thus far), I’m simply content with going to high school and fighting demons, with perhaps the best JPRG I’ve played on yesterday’s hardware (though not of all time… that still goes to Panzer Dragoon Saga, hand’s down). That’s not to say that I’ve completely blown off GTA IV, despite my less than stellar initial impressions (as detailed here), but all I’m gonna say is that I’ll get to it eventually.
I’ve got more important things on my mind, such as how… TOMORROW IS THE DAY IRON MAN FINALLY OPENS!!! You cannot believe how super psyched I am for this. I’m actually more excited now than I was the first Spider-Man flick, which was a lot. Mainly because I never really thought an Iron Man movie would get made, let alone be legitimately good. And last night I got an email from Steve Flack that simply read: “Iron Man… FUCKING RULED“ which has gotten me even more pumped!
And it would seem that I’m not the only one who’s going all ga-ga for Ol’ Shell Head. Recently, Project Rooftop had a contest asking its uber talented friends to redesign Iron Man, and the results, as usual, are quite nice…
Meanwhile, Joel, whose super-hero revamps I dig the most, has been reviving the Marvel Masterpieces concept all by himself over at his LiveJournal, and recently did a whole slow of concept cards feature all the different armors of Tony Stark…
Speaking of movies, one that’s been getting a LOT of play among my circle of friends is The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift. Almost everyone I know, slowly by surely, one by one, has been checking out this most brilliant piece of clueless cinema. Just this past weekend was Mike, along with a gigantic bottle of booze, and before that was Hilary, who dug it so much that she decided to create this totally awesome comic adaptation…
