I will give it to you straight because you all deserve the truth. This morning, after more than sixteen years of not vomiting, my winning streak came to a sudden and surprising end.
It all began last Saturday when I first felt the sore throat that Mrs. Hill had been complaining about for the preceding week. Actually, my pain was less in my throat and more in my sinuses, where I felt a strong stinging sensation. By Monday the pain was gone, and all that was left was some congestion. By yesterday I actually felt fine, though I still had a minor cough. Miriam, concerned that I was not getting well enough fast enough, urged me to take some medicine this morning before I left for work. I swallowed the pill and got on my bicycle. About a third of the way through my ride I felt that unmistakable feeling of acute nausea. Noooo! I forgot to take the pill with food!
I was pedaling my bike at my normal pace when I had to suddenly jump off, and I began heaving. I had eaten nothing since the night before, so my stomach was empty. There was nothing to throw up, strictly speaking. I just heaved and heaved, and it felt awful. I got back on the bike, distraught, knowing I wasn’t close enough to any place where I could quickly eat something to calm my stomach. I pressed on, choosing a route I thought would shield me from the disgusted gaze of passing motorists. When I reached the corner of University Avenue and 15th Street, I had no place to hide from the unmerciful eyes of Florida football fans, eagerly awaiting the Homecoming game, but anxious over a potential loss to Vanderbilt. Fortunately, I didn’t have another attack. When I got up to my office, my coworker Melanie gave me some animal crackers from her secret stash. She has a massive stockpile of foodstuffs in a cabinet, perhaps in preparation for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. I worried that I had a live show to host in an hour-and-a-half, and puking on-air would not be good. I briefly considered calling my guest to cancel. But Melanie sent me off to lie down with a blanket (also from her Doomsday stockpile). In a short while I felt normal, and I proceeded with the show as planned.
So, let word go forth to all people in all nations: sixteen vomitless years have come to an end. Unless you want to say that what happened today was just dry heaving, in which case it still stands. Let’s say this. Dana John Hill – Sixteen Years Vomit-Free*.
*If you don’t count dry heaving.
Filed under: Health, Work on November 5th, 2011 | 3 Comments »
When you are in graduate school, you learn to appreciate the little things. Since the classes are in three-hour blocks, by halftime everyone is fading. But today, when I went to drop off a form in the graduate assistant’s office, I discovered an enormous bowl of Halloween candy, and I am talking about the good stuff: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit-Kat, Twix, those malted milk balls, and so on. When I got back to the seminar room with my booty, everyone asked where it came from. When I told them, a convoy was quickly dispatched, and soon enough the conference table was littered with wrappers as my classmate stuffed themselves with sweet, sweet candy. It looked like an eight-year-old’s bedroom floor on Halloween night.
Filed under: School on November 2nd, 2011 | No Comments »
I am sad to report the death of Bela, our dear old kitty.
When I met Miriam in 2000, Bela had already been her cat for four years. When I moved in, Bela became my cat, too. She was not always an ideal pet. In fact, her behavior forced us to move her to outdoor living in 2005. Surprisingly, she thrived. She seemed to love living outside. The world became her bathroom. As the years passed, she was a constant presence near our front door. She liked the outdoors so much that even on freezing cold nights we could not persuade her to come inside.
In recent months Bela began to slow down. She no longer ran to get her food, and she didn’t leave the area directly in front of the house. She was old. But even in her old age she still was happy to be outside. A week or so ago, when the weather turned suddenly cool, I walked outside one afternoon to find Bela stretched out in the sun, purring.
Last night we brought her inside the house one last time, and as Miriam and I petted her she passed away.
Filed under: Animals, Family on October 25th, 2011 | No Comments »
Anyone who has had the misfortune of speaking to me in the last year and a half will know I am nearly obsessed with my beloved AR-3a loudspeakers. As I wrote at the conclusion of my project to restore them last year, these speakers are amazing. I could not love a non-living thing any more. I learned last Monday that the man behind these wonderful loudspeakers has died.
Edgar Villchur, who was ninety-four years old, gave the world the acoustic suspension loudspeaker. The AR-1, made by his company, Acoustic Research, changed the way speakers were produced. Unlike many of the existing speakers at the time, his speakers were fully enclosed, and virtually airtight. The vacuum inside would cause the drivers to “spring” back to their proper position automatically, whereas other speakers at the time used actual mechanical springs, and the cabinets that enclosed them were enormous. With Villchur’s technology, people could finally have loudspeakers that were unobtrusive in the home. My AR-3as are actually quite handsome, with walnut cabinets and grill cloths of Irish linen. Stereophile and The Absolute Sound will tell you that the 3a is at or near the top of the most important loudspeakers ever created.
For me, though, it isn’t the innovative technology or the appearance of my AR loudspeakers that makes me love them. It’s the sound. These speakers have changed the way I hear music. My enjoyment has been increased in ways I cannot fully articulate. Considering how important music is to me, I can, without hyperbole, tell you that they have made my life better. For that I am extremely grateful to Edgar Villchur.
Filed under: Current Events, Technology on October 24th, 2011 | No Comments »
Thirty-five years is not old. But it isn’t young, either. Somehow, I don’t really feel any different than I did when I was half my present age.
On this birthday I will make my usual wish: hard times come again no more.
UPDATE: A pretty good birthday. When it began, at midnight Wednesday morning, I was still awake writing a paper. In the morning I had to give a presentation on said paper. In the afternoon I had to give another brief presentation for a different class. But while the morning began with high winds and dark, cloudy skies, by five o’clock in the afternoon it was beautiful outside, and had gotten much cooler. I enjoyed lunch at Leo’s with my friends Anthony and Jessica, then dinner with Miriam, plus the Martinos, the Fagans, Kat and Harris, Leslie and Andy, and other GRRs. Everyone I saw was exceedingly kind, and the well-wishes on Facebook were touching. Then, when we got home, Miriam made me a big chocolate chip cookie shaped like a heart. And tomorrow we are going to Disney World. All is well.
Filed under: Special Occasions on October 19th, 2011 | No Comments »