The 13 Thursday Page Turner
1. While driving home in the rain on the Blue Ridge Parkway at night after babysitting Bryce, I saw three possums, the one that made a car swerve and almost cause a three car accident, the one I later ran over, and the one that happily got away.
2. I saw geese flying in V formation. The next day heard birds singing as if it was spring.
3. Recent googled topics of research: Beta glucan, Friday the 13th, Elvis Costello and seizures.
4. I recently said to my friend Rosemary: I have learned not to answer right away when someone asks me to do something, because it always seems harder than it really will be and my first thought is usually ‘I can’t possibly do that.’ She answered, “I have learned to not answer right away for the complete opposite reason.
5. I know my relationships with my blog readers are real because, in the spirit of honesty and keeping current, I find it hard to skip over something big that has happened in my life. I learned this recently when I had a (simple partial) seizure and the journal part of my blog compelled me to at least mention it.
6. A seizure in which you don’t lose consciousness can feel like out of control déjà vu (when everything seems strangely familiar), Jamais vu (when common things that should feel familiar feel utterly foreign) or presque vu (being on a delusional verge of almost remembering something).
7. A seizure without losing consciousness is like having vertigo and not throwing-up.
8. I was recently enthralled watching Nova’s 3 part series, Becoming Human, which traced human evolution back to our earliest ancestors. It was like the documentary to the Clan of the Cave Bear, a book series about prehistoric times that I read a couple of decades ago.
9. Clan of the Cave Bear: The Danielle Steele of Neanderthals.
10. In the past few years I’ve written dozens of stories about other people for the local newspaper, including one about a toymaker, a singer, a pizza maker, a gardener, a teacher, a landscaper, an author, an artist, a poet, quilters, and actors.
11. I recently realized that my interest in telling other people’s stories started when I wrote my brother Jim’s eulogy in 2001. As I wrote it, I remember thinking that all my past writing had been building to come to that point; what could be more important than writing someone’s eulogy, and why don’t we write about people’s lives before they die?
12. After that, I wrote an essay about my father (a year before he died) and read it on the local NPR station. Then, my mother said, “I hope you’re going to write one for me.” That one got on the radio too.
13. As a writer, is THIS cheating?
The rest of the 13 Thursday stories are HERE.
November 19th, 2009 2:14 am
The Nova series sounds like something I would have liked. I loved the “Earth’s Children” series, but the one that resonated most with me was The Mammoth Hunters, having visited an Iron Age Museum in Norway the summer before and sat in dwellings described in Aeul’s book. It’s one of my best and strongest memories.
I took a page out of your book and tried a bit of randomness again this week. Cheers!
November 19th, 2009 6:59 am
6 and 7 most educational..have you have a history of seizuring throughout your life??
November 19th, 2009 7:28 am
I thought I have experienced having a seizure three times in my life, the latest this year. I was advised to undergo EEG by my friend’s sister who is a doctor. The electrodes felt funny on my scalp. I felt relieved when the doctor said everything’s normal.
November 19th, 2009 8:25 am
Yes, that deja vu I remember as a child. It also seemed sometimes as if everything around me was going too fast like in a film strip. They all stopped when I was about 10, so guess I am OK. I really like and agree with your Clan of the Cave Bear analysis.
November 19th, 2009 8:42 am
My sister has had grand mal seizures and nothing shows up abnormal on her EEG. So if it comes back normal it doesn’t mean you didn’t have a seizure. There are many types but if you have one believe me you will know it.
I have always had fragile brain chemistry and my family has rampant dyslexia and dyscalculia which could be considered a type of brain injury. My Chinese medicine practitioner believes that head injury is the root of my problems. I fainted a couple of time as a girl and once hit the gym floor pretty hard. Soon after that the left side of my head (hair, forehead, eyebrow and eyelashes went completely white). It comes in the form of a spell, tends to build, peak, and taper off slow.
When one of my brother’s was little he used to describe something like astral projection where his consciousness would zoom be up on the ceiling. I had something strange a girl too that would happen on occasion that I can barely describe but I believe falls in this category. I used to call it feeling like spaghetti.
November 19th, 2009 8:50 am
i actually learned recently about #5 – that someone online was not who they appeared to be.
November 19th, 2009 8:59 am
Your description of your seizures makes me wonder if maybe I have them, too. I have those experiences fairly often, as well as the feeling of being outside my body, especially when I’m tired. I do hope things get better for you, Colleen.
November 19th, 2009 9:05 am
Google “aura.” It’s the feeling that comes before a seizure and sometimes can be the extent of it, although most seizures build to a dramatic (and terrifying) peak.
I’m mostly fine now. I feel like this episode was triggered by using St. John’s Wort and Ginkgo. I was taking them to feed my nerves because I had the beginning of carpal tunnel with hand tingling etc. After it happened I did some research and found that people with a history of seizure activity should not take these herbs. I’ve had them before (but not in 10 years) so I am prone.
November 19th, 2009 10:06 am
I woke up this morning to a very loud bird song. Then, once outside, I realized it was 75 degrees, foggy, and with a heavy dew coating everything. It was like spring had arrived, confusing, but still typical for where I live.
Happy Thursday, Colleen!!
November 19th, 2009 10:39 am
I don’t know if it’s cheating or not, but it looks like fun. Hope you have things under control in the seizure dept.
Happy T13 & Happy Turkey Day!
November 19th, 2009 11:03 am
Now you’re scaring me. I’m on a delusional verge of almost knowing something all the time.
November 19th, 2009 11:10 am
You always have interesting thoughts. I think it’s great you were able to honor your parents.
November 19th, 2009 12:49 pm
I’m sorry to hear about your seizure, hope you’re feeling better soon. Yes, the local video store has been Fed Ex only for quite awhile now.
November 19th, 2009 1:48 pm
Oooo I like that site – it reminds me of Mad Libs! Since Mad Libs helped teach me what an adverb is, I would say that site could not possibly be teaching. Treat it as a prompt!
November 19th, 2009 1:49 pm
Oops – that should say it “could not possibly be CHEATING” – not teaching ;0)
November 19th, 2009 2:32 pm
I’ve never experienced seizures myself, but I did babysit for a little girl who had them…it was a little scary every time her parent’s left, but she never had one when it was just me there alone.
I don’t know if #13 is cheating for you…but I fully intend to try it! 🙂
I wrote about peanuts one time, three years ago…..I get at least two people coming to my blog every month through a peanut search. Random.
November 19th, 2009 9:37 pm
Hi- This felt you were answering interview questions in a relaxed and spontaneous fashion. It was a very enjoyable read! You have a healthy attitude about being open about your seizures and how they impact your life.
Many writers draw on his/her own experience for ideas, especially those that affected them deeply. Needless to say, death obvkiously falls in that category as well as the compliment of your mom wanting you to write about her, too, while still in your life! It’s interesting to read about the writers behind the “local people stories.” (I’m an artist and writer who has been interviewed.)
As for #13, well, I think it can be a tool, like “prompts” to help anyone write who is unsure or has no idea where to start. However, anyone who reads such stories will know if too many of those “fill ins” were used. So, there’s absolutely no worry about “cheating to a best-seller.” They are cliche… I Do firmly believe that helping those write who would otherwise not, is a GOOD thing.
November 20th, 2009 12:19 pm
Number 13 is funny. I think the generator creator can claim to be a writer. The users, not so much.
Flash 55 – Favors
November 20th, 2009 12:24 pm
4 is pretty neat. it’s like the phenemon of going thru a war and one sister would never waste anything again while the other would never restrict herself and live lavishly and large.
6. woah, Jamais vu seizure. there’s a word for that?
I thought I had a stroke or some weird panic attack variant once when I experienced that a few years ago. I was on my normal bus route, I had no idea where I was so I bailed off. I found sitting still make me feel less vertigo but i had lost literacy. I, with effort, could figure out where signs were and knew they had information but I couldn’t decode it nor maps into sound or information. I don’t know how long it lasted. a lot of busses passed in the station. when it cleared it was like a compass spinning and I knew where I was again. losing literacy and direction was pretty haunting.
November 21st, 2009 2:47 pm
I’ve been enjoying watching the Vs go over. I am glad you didn’t wreck your car. My dad always told me never to try to miss the animal. You’d be better off to hit it dead on.