Go ahead, call me indifferent, see if I care.
KIA: not just a car anymore
“Hello, my name is Shawn and I have a knee injury.”
It’s not a perfect comparison—there are no group meetings or sponsors—but I have been in rehab (i.e., physical therapy) for about two months and frequently feel the urge to relapse while watching my soccer team play. Then I bend my knee to a certain degree or twist my leg around and that urge goes away.
At least it did until last week. Before a game on Wednesday, I decided to help the keeper warm up by taking some shots on net. I felt okay after the first few times, so I started kicking the ball harder. Not as hard as possible, mind you—I thought keeping the ball in reach of the keeper was a little more important than powerfully sending it soaring up into the roof.
That five minutes or so felt great, but as the game progressed while I stood on the sideline, my knee started to let me know it was displeased. Very displeased. Ooh yeah, that was definitely a relapse. When I got home, I was having trouble walking up and down stairs again.
Thankfully, physical therapy has gone well enough that I recovered quickly and I’m doing all right. I went to the local YMCA today and rode on an exercise bike for about 20 minutes. I didn’t push myself really hard because I didn’t want to rupture anything, but after a semester of circuit training twice a week and then two months of not being able to work hard enough to break a sweat, those 20 minutes felt pretty good. As for my limping down the stairs towards the locker room afterward… I think it’s fair to say I haven’t graduated from KIA just yet.
Share this:
The Five-Year Plan
That’s how my grandmother suggests that we live our lives: decide where we want to be in five years, then work towards that point starting now.
On January 17th, 2005—five years ago—I left a hotel with six other guys, got into in a van, stopped at Denny’s for breakfast, drove around for what seemed like hours, then eventually strolled through the front door of a mansion and into the midst of the reality TV phenomenon known as “Beauty and the Geek”. (The show being a “phenomenon” may be debatable, but please don’t spoil my delusions for the moment.) It was awesome, frustrating, amazing, sometimes nauseating… it only lasted two weeks, but it changed my life in so many ways that if I’d had a five-year plan at that point, it would have been shot straight to hell.
I sent a “Happy Anniversary” message to some of my fellow… you know, I’ve never put much thought into it before, but what were we? Participants? Contestants? Cast members? Probably all of the above, but regardless, I sent a message to a handful of them and hope that they’ve got a couple happy memories to reflect on after so many years. The likelihood of us getting together for a little reunion is minuscule at best—people seem to have gone their separate ways—but if some TV channel shows a mini-marathon of Season 1 in June (the month when the show first aired), I’ll be happy. I’ll also probably feel awesome, frustrated, amazed and sometimes nauseated all over again, but at least this time I can write that stuff in the margins of my five-year plan.
Share this:
Happy belated holidays to one and (mostly) all!
My apologies for missing the dates when these events occurred, but allow me to wish people:
-
“Merry Christmas!”
“Joyous Kwanzaa!” and
“Chhhappy Chhhannukah!” (I wasn’t sure how to type a throat-clearing “chhh” noise, so that’s the best I could do.)
As for those of you who consider “Chrismukkah” a legitimate holiday, you should be strapped down to a table, beaten with a candy cane, whipped with a cat-o’-nine-dreidels and banned from watching “The O.C.” ever, ever again.
If I missed any other real holidays, my apologies, but I’m busy getting ready to celebrate the end of a decade and party into the 10’s. Don’t forget to start things off on the right foot, everyone: Lift your left foot off the ground just before the clock strikes midnight. Happy New Year!!!
Share this:
At least my knee isn’t creaking yet…
A few days after I hurt my right knee playing soccer (the Sunday before Thanksgiving), it wasn’t getting much better—it was still really painful trying to bend around to put on socks and pants, let alone climb stairs—so I went to the doctor to have her take a look at it. Continue reading “At least my knee isn’t creaking yet…”
Share this:
Movember 30th
The end of Movember has arrived, so to commemorate the event, I designed and took pictures of some seriously kick-ass facial hair (as seen on my Movember donation page). Actually, I’ve heard mixed reviews from people who like it to people who don’t think it’s my look to simply “Oh my Lord.” (You know you want to see it for yourself…)
If some of you are still willing to open your wallets/purses/bags o’ gold, donations of any amount are being accepted until Dec. 7th and the proceeds are split between the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Thanks to everyone for your generosity and for limiting negative reactions to “Oh my Lord” as opposed to “I’m going to saw that stuff off his face using the jagged edge of a credit card!”
