sundries

[rm]

It's that time again. Voting for round 4.02 of writerinadrawer is open until tomorrow afternoon.

You guys, SINUS INFECTION. Not migraine, not tension headache, SINUS INFECTION. Today my head no longer feels like it's going to EXPLODE. Hopefully that'll stay true.

Last night we went to that tango thing, despite the fact I felt pretty weird still. We learned some tango (wherein, I got frustrated a lot because the dance floor was too crowded for there to be room for anyone's error), but the girl who did the burlesque to "Shiny, Shiny Boots of Leather" way back was there dancing to "Roxanne" from Moulin Rouge, so, you know life was good.

Perhaps best, however, was making out with Patty on the balcony of the Players Club, UNTIL THERE WAS A FIST FIGHT! At Dances of Vice! At the Players Club. How absurd is that? Of course, because of where we were on the balcony, we couldn't go anywhere, so we just sort of watched it happen and hoped no one went over the side (no one did, although a $200 pipe apparently did that no one ever found). Weirdest part? The woman with one of the guys involved in the fight was wearing the same dress as the one I bought for the opera in Sydney. What are the odds?

AND! We met an LJ'er.

I love you all. I have read most of your responses because sitting up at the computer for more than 30 minutes at a time as been miserable, but I love you all.

For now that's all I've got. Still not loving being at my desk.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Tango is just not a dance for a crowded dance floor. There's no room for the woman (whoever happens to be taking that role) to "fan" out properly. If you're going to dance a Latin dance on a crowded dance floor, the Mambo is a better choice.

[jadegirl.livejournal.com]

That Lj'er was me, and it was a pleasure to meet you and Patty, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again under slightly less surreal circumstances! I was frustrated by the crowding on the dance floor, especially being a *very* inexpert dancer.

Get well soon!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Hopefully we'll see you at the next one.

[kproche.livejournal.com]

OK, if this is not the first sinusitis-induced Headache of Doom, invest in either a NeilMed sinus rinse bottle or their (admittedly weird) Nettipot.

I used to have those HoDs a *lot*. I was finally persuaded to start doing a daily saline sinus rinse (I use the first, a little squeeze bottle) and it dramatically reduced their occurrence to very rare.

(I even had sinus surgery in my 30s to correct a tendency for blockage, and afterwards still got the HoDs. Getting into the habit of the morning rinse made a huge difference. If we go someplace particularly dusty, smoky or allergen-loaded I'll do an extra flush when I get home.)

[5251962.livejournal.com]

Seconded- ever since we started using these, it works like a charm and I don't even have problems like I used to with my deep tear troughs standing out as badly.

[marcmagus]

Those squeeze bottles freak me out (the whole pressure thing), but I love my neti pot. TCM/acupuncturist friend recommended it to combat allergies, and when I remember to rinse *before* I become so inflamed the water can't flow through it's great.

[kproche.livejournal.com]

The neti pots trigger memories of "oh no! uncontrolled water up my nose" for me like when I was 4 at the swimming pool. On the other hand, I've been having to use nasal inhalers (the aqueous pump version of Nasonex) for years, so the *idea* of the squeeze bottle wasn't so scary.

Brains are weird. Fortunately both versions of the rinse work just fine.

If there isn't any actual blockage, the squeeze bottle doesn't actually involve much pressure.

[marcmagus]

Yeah, it's totally a psychological "I might screw something up" thing for me. Although since I'm trying to ward off serious inflammation from allergies, there's definitely significant constriction if not actual blockage involved.

I totally hear you on the swimming pool thing. It took me a couple weeks to get used to it enough to relax and let it work. It still freaks me out a little. But it does feel really refreshing after, so totally worth it.

[malle-babbe.livejournal.com]

Here to get on the neti pot train. I have found that using non-iodized salt is just as effective as those pre-measured packet of salt that NeilMed sells; no stinging at all.

[kproche.livejournal.com]

Kosher salt mixed with an equal part (by weight) of plain baking soda gives you a properly buffered saline solution.

[5251962.livejournal.com]

I swear, everytime I read about one of your nights out- my eyeballs just get all big and I kind of go, "Ooooooh, wow, how glamorous!" You just seem to have such an un-mundane life. :) Get better soon!

[marcmagus]

Ugh. So sorry to hear about the sinus infection. Hope it clears up quickly and without any weird symptoms. (I literally spent a few days with the constant smell of death and decay. It was screwed up and not pleasant.)

[marchek.livejournal.com]

A FISTFIGHT?!?? Really? So this is what happens when I can't pull myself together to join you all for a night out. I'm crossing my fingers that maybe I'll be able to find video footage of the "Roxanne" performance. Do you think the fight will have an effect on the future DoV-type events there?

Sinus infections suck. I'm so sorry.

[sykii.livejournal.com]

A fistfight? Suddenly I'm not quite as sorry that we missed it, considering I'd have had my camera with me.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It was relatively contained because of where it was, but overall the night had more photographers than things to photograph. On the other hand, there's going to be a LGBT tango festival in NYC in October.

As a person who spent many years

[newwaytowrite.livejournal.com]

with chronic sinus infections...I feel your pain. I would taken antibiotics and I would think I was better. But I learned at around age 23 that I had a deviated septum and that I had one sinus cavity that would never get better as the infection would go dormant but as soon as I was exposed to someone with a cold or flu I would not get the flu or the cold but my blocked sinus would flare up the infection.

Thankfully I had surgery to fix my problem. It was probably the singularly best thing ever for my health. I had no idea how much I wasn't breathing fully, no idea how much flavour food had and how if I have some sort of sinus issue now an antihistamine will actually be effective.

Take care of yourself.

Re: As a person who spent many years

[rm.livejournal.com]

I also have a deviated septum, but I'm way too fucking weird about doctors to let someone cut into my face.

there is no exterior

[newwaytowrite.livejournal.com]

cutting involved. It is all done through the nose. Apparently the absolute grossest sounding surgery for those in the operating room.

My nose looked exactly the same in the before and after stage.

Re: there is no exterior

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's no way. I would have to be drugged, restrained and sign my decision making powers over someone else to go through surgery.

Re: there is no exterior

[eandh99.livejournal.com]

but it really, truly does work - I've had the surgery too and went from chronic sinus infections to ZERO sinus infections. more than 15 years infection free.

Re: sinus infection

[bugeyedmonster.livejournal.com]

Oh, you poor thing. I've had those before. No fun. Sending hugs.

[trillian42.livejournal.com]

Trivia for you for future reference: if a headache gets drastically and sharply worse with changes in latitude -- bending over, leaning to the side, etc -- odds are good that it's a sinus infection. Most other headaches don't have that same sudden flash of pain in that context.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Perhaps best, however, was making out with Patty on the balcony of the Players Club, UNTIL THERE WAS A FIST FIGHT! At Dances of Vice!

Somebody had better have been slapped in the face with a glove or something. That would make this perfect in my head.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It was a dude in some black suit with a red shirt vs. a dude in a summer white formal tux jacket, if that helps.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Hello, classic good v. evil color scheme!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Right! And it was all very rat pack too.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

As averse to fist-fights as I am in real life, this whole thing is performative and meta enough that I'm finding myself really fascinated from afar.

This probably says really terrible things about my character. Or I'm taking notes.