Tag Archive | House MD

I Can’t Sleep With or Without You (My iPhone)

The closest pic I could find to my own beloved phone and case

Sung to the tune of the U2 song “With or Without You.”

In some of my recent goals posts, I’ve mentioned a goal to sleep without my phone. This has been an ongoing struggle for me ever since I got an iPhone (and I was just telling a friend that I got one the day they became available to Verizon people), and in different iterations even before then. I thought it would make sense to give some background on this habit that I’ve struggled to break.

Because the thing is, I know all the things. I know that you’re supposed to get off electronics before going to bed. I know taking the phone into the bed with me, scrolling endlessly, listening to podcasts, having the blue light in my face (and I hold the phone much closer to my face than the average person, thanks legal blindness) is all bad. I know when I fall asleep with the phone, my sleep is worse. I don’t sleep as deeply. I wake up more often to pee or just to wake up, most likely because I’m still in the lighter stages of sleep. I probably miss out on a lot of deep sleep and all the goodies that it provides. I even read somewhere, years ago, that screens in bed has been linked to weight gain.

Continue reading →

After the Ecstacy, the Laundry

Aug31

A few years ago, I went to this amazing writers retreat weekend put on by The Sun magazine in Big Sur, CA, and during the last morning we were all gathered and talking about what we felt about the end of the workshop, and a lot of people expressed some degree of sorrow at having to go back to their real lives, and someone brought up the quote that is the title of this blog post, which I think was originally said by some spiritual teacher or something. Ever since that workshop, I think of this quote anytime I’m saying goodbye to any kind of supercool experience and going back to my regular life, and that is the case this morning.

Continue reading →

Reflections on ’08

Dec26

And here’s another old post I’m importing from my old blog, an end-of-year survey post for 2008. Funny thing, some of the stuff I was a little coy about and hinting at? I have no idea what most of it refers to anymore, and it’s only a few years later. Kinda sad.

Anyway, here’s the post:

Well, my first reflection is that it flew by fast. I feel old. I’m not really, just approaching 28, but it feels old in a way. I remember having a discussion with friends about how people go through a major change around that age. Saturn return and all that. Oh, it’s coming for sure. My other thought is that I think this past year was sort of boring in comparison to the one before. Last time I filled out one of these things I felt present and sparky, this year felt a little blah.

So anyway, here’s my answers to the end of year survey, same one I did last year.

Continue reading →

House, Music and Coincidence

Dec22

This one’s from December 2008:

Three things I love very much.

So, I wouldn’t exactly say that I believe in magical musical synchronicity, because t e skeptic in me doesn’t believe in much of anything, but I sort of do. Sometimes I go through phases where I can predict what song will come on next, among tons of possibilities. Sometimes the perfect song comes on, for example, if I’m writing to someone or about to call them, and then somehow the one song that really makes me think of them comes up, (and just for a reference point, I have over 11,000 songs on iTunes). Or sometimes I’ll be thinking about a song and it comes on. Or a song that just magically fits the situation. What I’m saying is, I don’t know how it happens, maybe it’s some sort of mind over matter thing, maybe it’s completely random and I assign it meaning, but I do sort of believe in something there.

But I’m getting a little off track (though I must say that one of the songs I’m planning to write about in this post just came on), what I wanted to write about was music, House and coincidence intersecting. Oh and dreams, I’ve been dreaming partly in songs this past week.

Continue reading →

Long Time, No Post

Nov25

From November 2008:

Yeah, I know, it’s been like, two and a half months.

There’s lots of news to report, I suppose. It’s been an interesting few months. I lost internet connection for awhile, which drove me nuts. I don’t have TV so I rely on the internet for my fix. It drove me crazy to miss House and The Office, but what drove me even crazier was not being able to be really connected around election time. I like to keep up on those things, and it was like being totally disconnected from the world. And that’s not to mention all the people I fell out of touch with. It sucked. I spent hours and hours on the phone with CenturyTel, trying to figure out what was wrong. They were telling me I’d have to take my computer to an Apple store (not easy to do, since I live on an island). Then my friend Lissa visited, and fixed it in about two seconds. Now I’m trying to catch up.

Continue reading →

I have been so ON lately

May13

It’s strange because I have felt kind of out of touch lately. I haven’t wanted to read tarot for people because I feel sort of detached, disconnected from whatever it is – universal energy, the collective unconscious, cosmic forces, whatever deeper, nonverbal thing I usually tap into while reading cards. I feel almost out of touch w/myself. I know I’m coming out of it, but it’s still there, residually.

So I feel off, inaccurate, scattered and out of touch when it comes to things like tarot, but give me movies and TV and I am ON IT, figuring out all the plot twists way ahead of time. The other weekend, a friend and I went to see 21, which is based on a true story about some MIT kids who counted cards. I liked the movie a lot, it was a great story, and I happen to really love numbers, and also anything about geniuses. I mean, that’s a huge part of why I love House. So I was really fascinated by the whole concept of counting cards, kinda wanted to learn how to do it just to see if I could, if I have the mental capacity to be able to do it. So we’re watching the movie and I kept leaning over and telling my friend what was going to happen. It wasn’t a wholly unpredictable movie, so it’s not like super impressive, but still. I can’t really explain it, I just feel kind of on top of my game, really noticing subtle clues.

Continue reading →

Why Do I Love House? – Part Two, Breaking the Rules

Jan27

So, I wanted to continue this little dissection of my favorite show and why I love it, and I wanted to get to it earlier, but I’ve been working so much that it felt like every day I woke up, got ready, left, then came home and fell asleep and nothing else. I’m still working but the hours have shifted for the next few days.

So, House as a show breaks all kinds of rules, and I love that. It’s different. It turns things on their heads. The main character is not the good guy. The good guy if there is one, is Wilson. House on the other hand is a pill-popping Vicodin addict who says the most un-PC things imaginable, who regularly jokes about internet porn (it doesn’t download itself!), says the rudest things to his boss (my favorite being, “Good morning Dr. Cuddy. LOVE that outfit. It says, ‘I’m professional but I’m still a woman.’ Actually it sort of yells that last part,” which really is among the tamer examples I could have chosen), he is crass, and there are tons of crazy sex references. It’s like the anti-appropriate show, not at all for the feint of heart or the easily offended, what with a patient who uses strawberry jam as birth control jelly (LMAO), another who tries to circumcise himself, House being found with over 600 vicodin pills, and the general irreverence towards any code of ethics.

Continue reading →

Why Do I Love House? – Part One, Intellectual Stimulation

Jan12

Let me count the ways.

I have confessed before to my obsessive, undying love for this show, and being an analytical person, I have given a lot of thought to why the show appeals to me so much.

First, it’s a really intelligent, funny drama on TV. I guess in some ways, it’s not all that different from a crime type show. There’s just as much lying and investigating. Somehow though, House engages my mind more than any CSI type show, partly because the human body, and the psychology, are so infinitely fascinating. And I’ve learned a lot about medical conditions from watching the show.

Continue reading →

Writing from the road – Allentown, PA

Nov12

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything here on my blog. No, I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth, but let me tell you guys, the latest Mercury Retrograde hit hard. I can’t blame it all on that though, as it started before, and lasted until after. I will be honest, I spent most of late September and October lounging around my house, cleaning, organizing and rearranging my house, and watching HOUSE.

I will digress to say, I’ve watched the entire series THREE TIMES. Yes, I’m sure that sounds pathetic to anyone who isn’t me, and I’m sure it probably is, but here’s the thing. First of all, I went through every part of my house – kitchen drawers, closets, the chest that the TV sits on, the shelves in my bedroom closet and the cabinets under my bathroom sink. I totally reorganized everything. When I first moved into my apartment, a year and a half ago, I was seeing Adrian and he soon moved in with doggie, and it was all haphazard, with some organization as we went along (he was actually very clean and liked to arrange the house, which was great because at the time, I was pretty much a slob). For months I’ve felt like I wanted to re=organize, really make things mine, that sort of thing, but never got around to it. Until I downloaded all the seasons of House. I put on the pilot episode and wandered over to the kitchen.

Continue reading →