pop!

[piranha]

no walk today; rain all day, and had a late appointment with dr W (the internist). who still rocks. we're continuing the search for the cause of the ticker problem; more lab work. also a stress test (june 9), and a referral to an ophthalmologist (dr H, may 22). he says my BP is heading in the right direction, lots of walking good, trying to modify diet foodstuffs eaten good. blood glucose also decent, though i know i can make it more decent by eating even better ('tis hard because all my comfort foods have carb issues, and my standard recipes do as well, and i don't actually LIKE to figure out new ones). he's sympathetic, not pushy about it.

he wants me to record the glucose differently from now on -- instead of just before breakfast, on alternating days he wants to see the values before breakfast, before lunch, before dinner, before bedtime. i guess i better make a spreadsheet. at least it doesn't mean i have to stick myself more often. i whined to him about the crap shoot those test strips are, and he rolled his eyes -- he seems ready at a moment's notice to blast off about incompetence in the medical industry, but barely restrains himself. *heh*.

no metoprolol for 2 days before the stress test. well, that will be stressful all in itself.

Comments

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

That's a great photo, you can just see how close the demon was to running out of red paint. And I love it when a medico is on the same page as I am.

the demon's paint

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

you can just see how close the demon was to running out of red paint

oh! what a great way to put it! did that just come to you, or is there a story behind it?

yeah, he is a good doctor for me. he didn't ask "how much weight did you lose", he asked how much i was walking. and he was sympathetic about me being somewhat lame when it comes to figuring out new recipes for stuff i like to eat. so he's not stepping into issues where i'd bristle. and apart from that he is very much CURIOUS. he wants to find out what's wrong. ghod, i like that, and it's astonishingly rare among doctors (my PCP doesn't seem to have a curious bone in his body -- some day i really must go and look for somebody else. maybe i should ask the good internist whether he can recommend somebody.).

Re: the demon's paint

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

oh! what a great way to put it! did that just come to you, or is there a story behind it?

Well, if you've read Terry Pratchett's first discworld novel The colour of magic, you might remember the tourist Twoflower who visits Ankh-Morpork, and (because he is a send-up of Japanese tourists) has a camera which consists of a little box with a tiny demon who paints whatever it can see out the window when Twoflower presses the button. (Because this is a fantasy/magic universe rather than a technological one).

I don't know if the camera ever appeared in other pterry books. But anyway, Twoflower and Rincewind, his local guide, visit the local fleshpots and the demon pops up to complain it's run out of pink paint.

For some reason this idea has stuck with me, and now I have a digital camera, I notice how close to completely saturated the red detectors get when I try to photograph bright red flowers. And I think of it as the demon almost running out of red paint.

Re: the demon's paint

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

ah -- no, haven't read it. i think the only pratchett i've read is his collaboration with gaiman, good omens.

that's a cute idea, the demon in the camera. :)

yeah, full-on red is the one colour where i tend to need to desaturate a little in photoshop. not with this one, the day was overcast, but when it's sunny, bright red just overpowers.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

oo.

oo

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

:)

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Wow...that photo is like an opium dream of poppies. Just magnificent. (Sorry to hear about the medical stress, too!)

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i should title it "opium dreams of poppies". *heh*. thanks!

[frobozz.livejournal.com]

Damn, your photographs are just fantastic. Don't stop! You're inspiring me to want to start doing some close photography again.

And blech. Sorry to hear on the medical stress. Hope things get better.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

thanks for the compliment! and i love being inspirational -- hey, russ has started taking great pictures too (*nudges him to show them off*). do get back into it, i'd love to see your photos.

Close up

[lorres.livejournal.com]

I love this photo

I also love getting right up into a flower blossom like this and do it as often as possible. There's so much to see!

My mom grew loads of poppies and I love the petal texture. The scarlett is superb in the photo.

Re: Close up

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

so much to see, indeed. i love taking macro shots because i always see things in then that i _don't_ see with the naked eye. an entire miniature world. i wish somebody had introduced me to this in high school when i was really into botany; i would have had a blast.

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

If you have any particular recipes you'd like modified, shoot them my direction, with the specific restrictions you need. Modifying recipes is actually one of my hobbies--figuring out egg-free, gluten-free, or whatever. I've done some work with dietetic alternatives, though I'm still looking for a sugar substitute that doesn't turn nasty when cooked with.

The poppy makes me want to break out my wool yarn and use it for a needlework pattern.

modifying recipes

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

thanks for the offer -- i might just do that once i get my act together more. most of my comfort food is alas not amenable to modification because it's baked; yeasty, fatty, _and_ often sugary, and part of what makes it comforting is the texture, and in baking substitutions don't work as well as they can in general cooking. soy protein isolate tastes about as good to me as it sounds (and the whey version is even nastier). i have a slew of other flours that i'm trying, but overall they're not really much of an improvement carb-wise, and it seems all too much of a hassle. so i've mostly cut down drastically, but i am worried that i'll fall off the wagon, and so i am trying to get more enthusiastic about experiments.

luckily i like fruit and vegetables, so it's not like eating low on the glycemic index will kill me (mostly the opposite, *snicker*). it's just a lot of work to change the habits of a lifetime. and i am not an enthusiastic cook -- i like to eat more than i like making the food. which does not help, *wry grin*. i'll do it, because it's the sensible thing to do, and i like being sensible, but i am just grumpy about it.

Re: modifying recipes

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Let me know if and when. I will say that I'm a good cook first and foremost. I have never used soy protein isolate or fake foods in general--ick.

But you're right, baked goods are a lot harder. Can you eat whole wheat flour? I believe it has a lower glycemic index, and if you know what you're doing with it--many people don't, including most "health food" types--you can use it in a lot of some recipes.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

Hey, tell me your comfort foods and I'll see if I have a comfy substitute already worked out. Mine might not work for you, but it's worth a try.

comfort food substitutions

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

*nod* -- thank you for offering. see http://pleonastic.livejournal.com/316885.html?thread=1737429#t1737429 for my explanation why it won't be easy.