Zen Monday #241

Zen Monday continues! I've missed you!

Kitty Heaven

Nosy.

But a pretty kitty, poised on his matching pillow and posing behind a picket fence, is impossible to resist.

This post is dedicated to Pasadena Adjacent.

Picture Walk

I liked the red and green of yesterday's photo, so I'm continuing the theme.

We're having a walk in Bungalow Heaven. It's a famous neighborhood, so you'd think tourists would be taking pictures there all the time.

Okay, well, that's what I would think.

But I'm usually the only one there taking pictures. I've seen tourists there only on Bungalow Heaven Tour day, which can be super-crowded. Otherwise, it is a pleasant sector of Pasadena for perambulation.

Summer Gap

 

Another shadow shot, I realize. This one is more of the high noon variety than yesterday's expression of the eclipse. 

We're having warmer days, which I like. I've been barefoot several times already (atch-ootch-eetch); you can tell by looking at our bathtub. 

My favorite thing about summer besides the heat is the slowing of the pace of business. Fewer obligations. Around here, people don't seem to plan as much (maybe because it's hot?) and I have more time for my own work. 

What's your favorite thing about summer?

Dope

If you suffer from migraines, perhaps you take drugs not only to relieve the pain but to prevent the attacks as well, or at least diminish their frequency. And "suffer" is a relative term here. Everyone's migraine is different. Some people become nauseated and have to go to bed, some experience blind pain that drives them nearly to suicide.

I haven't had to endure a migraine's full wrath in quite a while because a medication called sumatriptan works for me. When I feel the thing begin its evil squeeze I take the pill and within an hour or two, I'm released.

I used to feel euphoric when the migraine lifted. Now I'm left with a kind of brainlessness. This is because I'm also taking a migraine preventer called a topiramate. It works. I was having 15 or 20 migraines a month and now I have about four. But topiramate has its drawbacks.

In some people, topiramate suppresses appetite. In some it causes paranoia or fainting, rapid breathing or blood clots. In me it causes sluggishness of body and mind. The worst thing is I have trouble remembering words. This would be no big deal if I were, say, a professional wrestler. Or maybe a neurologist.

I've told my neurologist how the topiramate makes me feel, how the word recall problem makes it hard to, um, you know, write words. He suggests I try different doses. He suggests I take it at different times of the day. He adamantly insists I quit drinking coffee. I tried that for an anguished six months, during which I was more sluggish than ever and had more migraines than ever. If I didn't drink coffee John would have to do all the laundry and grocery shopping and dog walking and that's not fair. I'd be a hazard on the roads. Hell, I'd be a hazard in my own house.

John suggested I get a second opinion. Duh! (If I wasn't taking this drug would I have thought of that myself?) He also suggested I research migraine preventers on my own. The first place I looked listed seven--SEVEN--alternatives to topiramate. I haven't had a chance to research them yet. Maybe they have side effects, like paranoia or blood clots or the urge to sleep with a moose.

But the doctor never bothered to mention these alternatives to me. Perhaps he doesn't know about them. He knows he wants me to stop drinking coffee. I begin to wonder if he went to college.

Obviously I don't have a migraine today or you'd be reading a shorter post. Anybody know a good neurologist?

Theme Day: Fences

The first of the month is our City Daily Photo theme day, and this time it's "fences."

I thought I'd get creative and run by the pawn shop, but ours is a venerated business in a historic building (not exactly a fence). Perhaps I'd locate some skilled athletes and photograph them with their epees. Nevermind. I got caught up in the Halloween rush.

So here's a fence. It's even a little spooky.

I got so caught up in the rush, in fact, that I forgot Halloween was Zen Monday and here it is Tuesday and we're having theme day. So tomorrow will be a historic Zen Wednesday, the second one in PDP history. (The first was in June of last year.)

City Daily Photo is a worldwide family of bloggers like me who love to photograph their hometowns. As of today, we're 1433 strong. Our newest member is MyHelsinkiCity, Finland. Click here to see how other CDP bloggers have interpreted today's theme.

A-Movin' Kinda Slow

At first, this looked like a family had a good day at the beach or the city pool.

Then something else entered my mind and wouldn't leave. Something eerie. Something otherworldly. Something...wrong.

Zen Monday: #119

It's Zen Monday again, the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And unless I absolutely must say something, I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion.

There's no right or wrong, although there may be an explanation.

REM, DST and PDP

Daylight Savings Time ended quietly last night, sometime between periods of rapid eye movement and solid snoring. If we were paying attention we set our clocks back before we went to sleep, and that's good. But everything's a bit off today, and that's...off. You'll hear no complaints from our house, though, as even early darkness is a small price to pay for an extra hour with Morpheus.

I'm not so off that I don't remember it's Sunday, and time to announce Friday's winner of the PDP/PPM books contest. Tada! Congratulations to Trish, a regular visitor, commenter and former Pasadenamanian, and the lucky person whose name was pulled out of the hat yesterday by my cute, innocent neighbor child.

Okay. Here's what really happened: Trish's name was pulled out of a (clean) dog poo bag by my cute, innocent husband, because when I went out with the hat I couldn't find any kids. Where the hell are they these days? Is it soccer season already?

Anyway, like many of you, Trish guessed the correct answer to Friday's question: What historic building is now occupied by Technique Restaurant? It's the old Star-News Building. Trish wins a copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, courtesy of Prospect Park Media. Congratulations, Trish!

Stick around for more chances to win books this Friday.