I was in the laundry room collecting my clothes from the dryer. A woman was ironing her clothes only a few feet away from me. Out of my peripheral vision I saw her collapse. Her body had pushed the ironing board so that it was at an angle and the iron was slowly sliding downward. I grabbed it and unplugged it as I asked if she was OK. She didn't respond. It sounded like she was choking and I began to panic. Her fists were clenched. She was having a seizure. I screamed, "Oh my god" and ran to the hallway where one of my neighbors was standing outside of her door. I told her to call 911 and I ran to my room to get my phone. I told her I was calling the security desk. The 911 dispatcher was being an asshole. There was some confusion with communicating the address and she was growing frustrated and said something like, "send a fucking ambulance." The dispatcher decided ask her something obnoxious regarding her usage of profanity and told her that she was being recorded. She said, "you're also being recorded…we need an ambulance here." We felt helpless as we waited for the paramedics. Seriously, what can you do when someone is convulsing like that? I thought she was dying. I was in a panic. Some neighbors gathered and said that it was good that she was on her side but she was breathing with difficulty.
The paramedics arrived and thankfully the building supervisor was still around so she had her keys. The paramedic asked her to see if there was any medication in her room and there was. She was gaining consciousness but she was still out of it. The paramedics said that it's normal for people who have had seizures to be a bit loopy afterwards. None of us there knew much about her.
The paramedics asked me exactly what happened and asked if she called out for help at all prior to falling and I said no, that she just went down. Just like that. And was immediately unresponsive. They said that I did the right thing by moving the iron and ironing board away from her. He said that if ever someone is having a seizure that you should never touch the person. Just make sure that they're lying on their side and make sure that nothing is in her way. NEVER put anything in their mouth, especially your finger because you WILL lose it.
It was truly frightening. I've experienced several traumatic things this month. A couple of weeks ago I saw a scary fight on the subway. It was about 2AM on a Monday morning on the subway. It was handled poorly. It was fucking scary.
Anyway, I feel emotionally drained but I'm so glad that lady is OK. I'm really glad that I was in the laundry room when it happened and that my neighbor was also quick to help. Everyone did the right thing and the paramedics arrived pretty quickly even though it felt like forever. It probably was about 10 minutes or so. It was easy to see what time it was that it happened because we called within one minute of her going down. Thank God for that.
Currently
listening
:
Beneath The Shadows
By
T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty)
Why oh why can I not find an image of one of those chunky combs we used to stick in our Jordache back pockets???
I found tons of 80's sites when I googled "80's huge pocket combs" but I have found nothing. I really need one. It's for Chapter 2 of "Do You Think He Likes Me?" Any suggestions?
*** Two – The Accidental Mullet Summer 1983
The night before I was to go to my grandparents' trailer on Lake Erie, my mother surprised me with a new haircut. She chopped all my hair off, leaving me with the unfortunate hairstyle known as a mullet. I was traumatized. Katie looked great with a mullet because Katie was beautiful. But me? I thought it brought out my freckles and chubby cheeks even more. I cried myself to sleep that night.
I was determined not to let to let my bad haircut get in the way of my summer vacation. Katie came to visit for the weekend, and we went skating at the Gem Beach skating rink. As Hall & Oates' "Maneater" blared from above, I found the courage to ask Joey, a fellow mullet head, to skate on "Ladies' Choice". Joey courted me that summer, boosting my self-esteem.
Really, it takes so little to make me happy. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is my fave but unfortunately they're not here on the East Coast. Their Ice Blendeds are far superior to Starbucks' Frappuccino's which, in opinion, tastes like syrup.
Anyway, I am so super thrilled that I can purchase my Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf House Blend coffee on Amazon.
And? I have Amazon prime so I get free shipping!!!
Also, today I'd like to thank the Universe for allowing me to have a job which gives me the opportunity to experience the behavior of interesting characters who never cease to inspire me.
Last night I was working at a charity event. I was passing hor dourves when I felt an aggressive hand squeeze my side. I turned around expecting an "excuse me" or an "I'm SO sorry, I didn't mean to grab you". I got neither. Instead, the rude offender peered over the tray and said, without even making eye contact with me, "naaahhh" and walked away. I couldn't help but say "WOW!" as I stood there in shock.
I wanted to say thank you once again for all of the birthday wishes. I had the intention fo responding all of the emails I've received but have been so busy since I returned to NYC. And my trip to LA was less of a pleasure trip and more of dealing with things like my belongings in storage and my drivers license and other things. And though I had a great time and got to see most of my favorite people, it was really overwhelming. I lived in LA for 12 years so when I go back which is about 1 time a year it's hard to see everyone. I can't wait to visit when it can be a total vacation.
I'm going to be busy this summer working hard, saving money so that I can finally, after two years, completely commit to NY. LA is nice in many ways and I definitely miss my friends and hiking in the hills….but…my heart belongs to NY.
I found some fun art while going through my storage. It's from the 80's. It pretty…um…fantastic. And not "fantastic" in this particular definition:
4. extravagantly fanciful; marvelous.
But more like this definition:
3. imaginary or groundless in not being based on reality; foolish or irrational:
Remember Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan?
Well…
And here I am with my boys, Morrissey, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore. (How great does my hair look?)
And my super extreme look…
Take a closer look at my eyelashes.
…those were the days…
I'm going to draw more so I can have a good chuckle in 20 years.
Thanks for the Birthday wishes! I love them. Am totally beat from my week in LA...went on a lovely hike today and will have dinner with a friend before I jet back to NYC.
OK, that's not entirely true. I haven't walked much so to speak while being here in LA dealing with things like all of my belongings and renewing my drivers license... but I did manage to go on 2 hikes today! Once in the morning in the Glendale hills with Kimmy and once this evening with Jodi in the Hollywood Hills to have a memorial for Pepper and spread his lovely ashes.
Jolene took a bath. Jolene is tired. Jolene is speaking about herself in third person. Jolene? Needs sleep.
When it rains I can't help but want to obsessively listen to Rain by Tones on Tail.
I've been experimenting with writing style and structure as of late. I really enjoy doing all of the exercises from the following books. * What if? by Anne Bernays & Pamela Painter Spunk & Bite by Arthur Plotnik On Writing Well by William Zinsser Yoga for the Brain by Cheryl Miller Thurston The Art of Fiction by John Gardner (recommended by Bob Fisher writer of Wedding Crashers) Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (recommended by NY Times Bestselling author Jen Lancaster) The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White Story Structure Architect by Victoria Schmidt, Ph.D. * I'm going to do the following exercise over several blog posts…hopefully within the week. This exercise was taken from the book What if? from page 31.
* Choose a central dramatic incident from your life.
Write about it in first person, and then write about it in third person (or try second person!). Write separate versions from the point of view of each character in the incident.
Have it happen to someone ten or twenty years older or younger than yourself.
Stage it in another country or in a radically different setting.
Use the skeleton of the plot for a whole different set of emotional reactions.
Use the visceral emotions from the experience for a whole different story line.
THE OBJECTIVE:
To become more fluent in translating emotions and facts from truth to fiction. To help you see the components of a dramatic situation as eminently elastic and capable of transformation. To allow your fiction to take on its own life, to determine what happens and why in an artful way that is organic to the story itself. As Virginia Woolf said, "There must be great freedom from reality".
So…I'm going to try to do this daily but I'm going out of town and I can't promise. I'd love to see what you come up with. Please post it by blog, not email.
Product Description In his eagerly anticipated follow-up to Me Write Book, Bigfoot returns from exile to share his inspiring, hilarious, and often deeply disturbing experiences as a misunderstood forest gentleman and tragic media darling. These entertaining and often grizzly stories stand not only as a testament to the greatness of the legendary man-beast, but also as a chilling cautionary tale of the downside of a life of celebrity, cannibalism, celebrity cannibalism, wanton violence, and lack of toilet training. As in Me Write Book, full-color glossy spreads depict every intimate, disgusting, and downright insane moment of Bigfoot's life. Bigfoot: I Not Dead is an unforgettable memoir that will stay with readers long after his foul scent has dissipated.
I don't care what Kevin & Bean say. Scarlett Johansson's abum is lovely.
I pre-ordered the album on Amazon. After reading the CD booklet it all makes sense to me. The producer David Sitek was going for the 4AD sound (This Mortal Coil & The Cocteau Twins specifically) And if you know me, you'll know that I love most 4AD artists.
inspired
