Subdued

[flexagon]

I spent much of this week with my sinuses a little unhappy, trying to figure out whether I have allergies or a mild cold or both. Pulling my energy together enough for each day's workout, then flomping. (Mostly the flomp is, indeed, listening to King Sorrow on Audible while knitting.) I also got some vaccinations at CVS on Friday evening -- now that I think of it, my immune system may not have appreciated the extra homework, but it was assigned anyway.

It's been a rough week medically in my circles:

• Three cats died -- not mine. One belonged to a close friend, one to the bug's bandmate and one to a crossword collaborator friend. That is three too many.


• I found yet another bald spot on my head. Grr! So maybe the alopecia isn't stress-related anymore? Discovered on Wednesday, got cortisone shots on Friday. At least it doesn't hurt and doesn't show, and there's a whole new class of drugs coming along for the condition (JAK inhibitors) that seem amazing for more serious cases.


• Last and worst, a friend from my MIT days has not-super-early-stage colon cancer. GAH. There's a very freaky cohort effect happening (for those not aware, individuals born since the 1960s face up to a 4-fold higher risk than previous births. One recent article from Nature calls out picloram (pesticide) as a contributing factor, but plenty of other studies have no idea what's going on.) My doctor's been having me do colon cancer screening of the "poke your poop" variety for a couple of years now, but I'm trying to get a colonoscopy of my own before losing my good insurance. I hate this news for many reasons, but to be selfish for a moment -- this guy is one of those health nuts who practically lives on chia seeds, and will chide smoothie-drinkers for not eating the fruit whole when it's so much better for you that way. There's an unavoidable feeling that if he has colon cancer, then the rest of us should be very worried indeed.
  

Training & making:

• I kind of hacked up a solo crossword puzzle in two days -- one of my earliest ideas and way too simple to be new, except that nobody seems to have done it before (in the NYT). If I submit it, I'll max out how many can be in the queue at a time and will have to slow my roll.


• Took a cool contortion workshop, specifically on the topic of calming one's nervous system while doing contortion. Mostly lecture format. The presenter was scattered but gave me a lot to think about, and for the next couple of weeks I'm supposed to keep a training journal.

It's all been extra quiet due to the long holiday weekend, which enticed my squirrel to travel away and also shut down my circus school. I have missed those things, but also seem to have needed the rest.