Ok, so this post feels a bit odd for me, a bit too confessional, but I'm gonna go all counter-intuitive and post anyway. I figure that if it's of no interest, you'll just skip it.
A couple of months ago I fainted. On what was, I guess, a date. A first date at that. Luckily it didn't affect my getting a second date, but it's a far from ideal way to get to know someone.
Shortly after that, my acupuncturist told me that he thought I might have hypoglycemia. Being a hypochondriaphobic (yes, I made that word up – means someone who's scared of being a hypochondriac) who doesn't like doctors, I tried pretty much ignored it on the assumption that it would go away.
Well, I almost ignored it. I started looking it up online, and discovered that quite a few medical types don't seem to believe in hypoglycemia if you're not a diabetic too (I'm not), and that it can be hard to clinically diagnose. I dismissed it again.
It has, however, become harder and harder to ignore. Obviously when I'm at home, sitting quietly in front of my computer and eating regularly, it's not that much of a problem. But the last six weeks or so I've been up to London a lot, and frequently my eating pattern would get badly disrupted and I'd get that telltale woozy feeling again.
I hate going to the doctors, though, and I was tempted to just pretend it wasn't happening, but two conversations persuaded me not to: One with a friend who is also hypoglycemic and who has identical symptoms to me, and another with a friend who's diabetic and kindly gave me chapter and verse on blood glucose levels and what they do to you. Suddenly, I had a checklist as long as your arm of relevant symptoms, and a far better understanding of what happens to me when my blood sugar levels go all haywire.
I don't much like self-diagnosis. Give some people Gray's Anatomy and they'll have killed themselves off within seconds. That's the problem with online health websites too – it's like hypochondriac’s nirvana. I suppose that's why I feel a bit odd about this post. Too much self-diagnosis.
But I am biting the bullet and Monday morning at 9.50am I shall be off to the quack and will see what he says. I suppose it could all be something else, but I seriously doubt it – the weight of evidence is stacked pretty high. To be honest, I shall be glad if he agrees with me because it will be a relatively simple (if not easy) job to alter my diet to sort out the problem. I have already started eating six small meals a day instead of the usual three. I'll let you know how it all goes.
Anyway, apologies to the people whose ears I have bent about this subject over recent weeks. I tend to use conversations (not to mention this blog) to work out how I feel about something, which is all well and good for me, but can get tedious for other people. And to anyone who's had to deal with my early-morning woozily incoherent self, thank you for your patience.
Meantime, if anyone has any useful links, please do leave them in the comments.
Sunday night, after NotCon, a bunch of us met up for dinner at the Anglesea Arms in Kensington. Guilty parties were:
Stephanie aka bunny, James Cox aka imajes, Jason from South Africa, Jyri Engeström, Gerard aka insert coin, Matt Freestone, Perry de Havilland, Hugh Macleod aka gapingvoid, Julian Bond aka jbond, Mike Jones aka imsickofmaps, Snowchyld, George Crones, and Joi aka Our Illustrious Leader.
I had a great evening – it was so much fun to meet some of the people that populate my IRC day. Thanks to everyone for coming and for making it such a fun evening. Apologies for the slightly crappy nature of the photos. The flash on my camera is a bit harsh, so I often turn it off. Unfortunately, that doesn't really make for decent pics, which is a touch counterproductive. The best ones are the ones Steph and the others took, I think.
Our Illustrious Leader reads from the Book of Joi. Ok, the menu…
Joi and Steph inspect James' fingernails
Steph makes me look awfully underdressed
Me, Jason and Jyri
Snowchyld. Who else?
Hugh, Julian, Mike and Snowchyld
Perry, Hugh and Julian plotting the downfall of modern civilisation
Snowchyld, Steph, James and me. God knows what the gesticulations mean
Hugh, caught in the act of Creating Valuable Art
Me, joifully (heh, get the pun?) playing with #joiito
Highlights of the evening included getting my very own gapingvoid original, chatting to Joi and seeing Steph all dolled-up. Wonderful conversation, good food, interesting company and some lovely scenery. What more could a girl want?
Other accounts of the evening include Gerardj's write up and photos, Hugh's blog post, Mike's blog post and finally, Stephanie's account of her whole trip to the UK.
Stephen Joyce, James Joyce's grandson and last remaining relative, has pulled the plug on readings of Ulysses which had been planned to celebrate the centenary of Bloomsday (16 June – the day on which the events in Ulysses take place). He declared that 'any public reading of what is regarded as the most influential novel of the 20th century will be a breach of copyright and cannot go ahead without permission and payment'. Via Neil Gaiman.
Gaiman likes the idea of being able to support his children and grandchildren from beyond the grave, and I can understand why he would. It's a nice thought that the stuff you do now might put food on your descendants' tables. But although it's a nice thought, is it really justified?
Only with copyright – and only since the extension of the copyright term – do originators get to feed their children and their children's children at, one could argue, the expense of the public. So Granddad Joyce has been dead since 1941, but Grandson Joyce gets to tell people they can't read from Ulysses – in celebration of the content of Ulysses – unless they pay him first.
What a lucky accident of birth. I don't get to earn money from the work my Dad or my Granddad did, although I suspect I'd be worth a small fortune if I could demand a percentage of all QEII cruise ticket sales.
Oh well, guess I'll have to stick to working for a living instead.
UPDATE: Funferal, Lessig and Cory were all way ahead of me, by some wide margin. Funferal's post particularly is worth reading.
