What a bloody change. After ten days of feeling fabulous, my last FEC (Wednesday 9/12) has sat me firmly back on my bottom...or rather, back on my back. Lying in bed, with great rolling waves of sickness coursing up and down my body I've been reflecting on 2009. My most comfortable position is one that I imagine a dying dog assumes, head hanging over limp paws just waiting for the breath to run out. I'm not dying of course and feel mentally as tough as ever but the release that comes from physically relinquishing a fight is immense.
The great news is that my last FEC was my last chemo treatment and all I need to do now is rest up for a few weeks, have five weeks of radiation in January/Feb, then 3 weekly Herceptin for a further 9 months and then I can get off this cancer carousel and back into life as I used to know it...but with a few more pills, and raw beetroot juices.
So...to my lists. I don't know where you lot have all been over the past few months but I have been staggered by how few of my friends are in touch with the very coolest things in the world. Help yourself to my hotpicks from the year that's just been:
1. www.ted.com - if you weren't raised with an oral tradition you'll take some convincing but if you've spent any time in church, or at university you should find something to squeal your wheels. My favourite talks are: Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame on Creativity. Sir Ken Robinson on How Schools Kill Creativity, Barry Schwartz on the Paradox of Choice and Benjamin Zander on Classical Music. OK, some of these are older than 2009 but it was my year to discover them.
2. Louis CK - the comedian is filthy - if you are remotely upset by foul language and adult themes avoid it all - except his piece on the Conran show about 'Everything is Awesome and Nobody's Happy.' www.youtube.com
3. Catherine Tate does Lauren Cooper. "Am I bovered?" www.youtube.com
4. The Time Travellers Wife - perhaps facing death makes mushy movies about time travelling more appealing than they otherwise would be - I cried. A lot. All the way home. Only go if you've read the book. Lazy, lazy, lazy if you don't.
5. Susan Boyle. Go on. Give your inner cynic the day off. Buy the CD. Play Wild Horses in the car and remind yourself of her first appearance where the entire audience was sneering and gagging to bring her down, until she opened her lips and started to sing.
6. The All Whites. I couldn't watch the last 10 minutes. My heart rate was climbing to a rate way too high for a chemo cocktail boffer like me. Bring on the Italians in South Africa.
7. The idea that entrepreneurs and not politicians create massive social change. Are the wrong people in Copenhagen? Check out the tweets from the Thought Leaders Conference 2009 for more - not my original thought but one that has really got me thinking. For an easy read try Fighting Globesity by Dr Jackie and Phillip Mills. www.lesmills.com (In the interests of transparency you ought to know I'm mentioned - nothing like good old self-promotion.)
Must try harder:
1. Freedom Furniture. Had cash, ready to pay for light shade for the great white elephant, which incidentally is looking more and more like my dream home every day. Who knew that concrete would be comfy? "Sorry, you can't buy it today because I have to count it." There I was thinking they were in business to sell items of furniture and associated household trinkets. Wrong. They are in the business of counting them, and keeping them. "Why don't you pay for it now and come back and pick it up tomorrow when I've finished counting it?" There's a winning pitch if ever I heard one. "Why don't you," this is me talking now, "stick the light shade up your jacksie, plug it in, turn it on and blow yourself up."
2. Tiger Woods. Should he blame the guy who always yells 'get in the hole'? What's worse? Being such a schmuck or being so arrogant to expect to get away with it? Mobile phones? Security cameras? Waitresses? Porn stars? Brain explosion. I don't judge his morality just his stupidity and hypocrisy. No wonder he craved privacy.
3. Mark Sainsbury. If Richie McCaw could be trained to stop saying 'you know' surely MS could ditch the 'now, look.' Tell me I'm wrong.
4. Smokers. Fat people. Polluters. Climate change sceptics. Mark Hoitchin. Give it up already.
5. Me. More to say, do, be, see.....after a wee snooze.
Friday, December 11, 2009
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5 comments:
I mostly enjoy reading your blog but sadly this posting made me angry, maybe I'm missing something .... but why must fat people try harder??? Maybe you should add yourself to this list to try harder not to have such narrow views.
I think you miss Sacha's point completely, smokers and fat people clogg up an already overflowing health system - get over yourself, get your head out of the fridge and your body onto the pavement
Charming, Merry Christmas to you too. It is not up to you to say what Sacha's point was, she is obviously more than capable of doing this for herself. Picking on a random thing such as being "fat" as a reason for being on a must try harder list simply seems to me to be very random, bigoted and uncalled for. Shock horror many people who might be viewed by you as "fat" actually lead very productive healthy lives and don't need to try harder, and may surprisingly not have clogged up the health system one little bit! Anyway now I've said my piece I'll get my head back in that fridge....
I've got a fat belly but a great arse and legs for any old bloke to die for. Arms are skinny and a 95% bald.
The fact is I hate having a fat belly, sooner have great looking abs and as for the man boobs it's definitely gym time. SC is absolutely right, fat is gross and I fail to see how it contributes in any shape or form to the overall well being of the human race. So until New Years Eve when it's resolution time, I'm going to celebrate Christmas, so, bring on the Christmas pies, puddings, chocolates.
Oh my! Don't fat people become overly sensitive to reality.
Yes indeed they do need to try harder to prevent future burden on an already stuggling health system & to put an end to the cyclic endemic.
Frequently we see children weighing double their ideal weight - 4 year old who weighed 57kg
In my opinion this is child abuse! It is the parent providing the food & thus creating the ongoing health problems of slipped femoral epithesis, lax ankles, type 2 diabetes to name but a few... not to mention the psychological torment these kids would endure in the playground
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