Hard to believe it's been 5 years

Next week is five years since my diagnosis. Here I still am!

Five years ago Thanksgiving weekend, I had flown to Florida to help a friend who was cleaning up her grandmother's and mother's estates. We spent much of the weekend wondering why my asthma medications weren't doing any good; I couldn't use the swimming pool in the condo complex because I couldn't walk that far. The following week, when I got home, was when I was scheduled to get lung x-rays taken. And when they got developed, gee, the heart happened to appear in the picture, too - larger than life, as it were.

Well. The diuretics (that the pulmonologist prescribed as soon as he saw the x-rays, even before writing out the referral to a cardiologist) cleared the fluid out of my lungs so at least I could walk more than 30 feet or so without running out of breath.

If my EF is still at only 20%, well, I'm nonetheless healthier than I was 5 years ago. I weigh significantly less. I eat healthier. And while I still can't walk uphill or up more than 4 or 5 stair steps without tiring, on level ground I can actually walk somewhat more than the 200 feet that my disabled-parking permit application specified. (I'd give up the permit if anyone HAD level parking lots, but no one does - they all slope away from whatever establishment they're for.)

Now if I could just lose again the 15 or so pounds I gained back... December's not a good month for trying to lose weight, though. Every place we play a concert, they serve the band punch and cookies or something of the sort, and after playing outdoors at night for a municipal Christmas-tree lighting, one HAS to have a cup of hot chocolate. (But hey, chocolate is good for you now!)

Anyway. Those of you who remember my interesting experience in spring of 2006 with an infection in my pacemaker pocket may be amused by this - as soon as I got the email from GiantMicrobes that this model was being released, I ordered one!
http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/mrsa.html

P.S. Have you gotten your pneumonia vaccine shot yet? You know who you are.

Modem temporarily working again - who knows how long?

So squirrel_magnet got the modem to boot up again and we have, at least for a little while, an outside collection. Who knows how long it will last? While it's here, though, let me try and do some ketchup. (Some of these paragraphs will get headings and cut tags and then have actual content filled in later.)

( Recent holiday music listening )

( Recent Reading )

( Music performances )

Coming soon: more rodent fiction!

More music

You're getting several shorter posts here, JUST IN CASE the modem cuts out again. Anyhoo, continuing with the holiday listening:
Kenny Ellis: Hanukkah Swings. Several traditional Chanukah songs (there are many spellings, children; the joys of transliteration from another alphabet) and several original ones. Ellis does excellent imitations of Sinatra and other Rat-Packers. One number comes out sounding quite like Benny Goodman swing. And there's the Hanu-calypso. While this isn't traditional STYLING of these songs, it's nonetheless a very good introduction to many of them - I think those of you who don't have much Chanukah music and want to hear a little more would enjoy this.
Barry and Beth Hall: A Feast of Songs. Holiday music from the middle ages, performed on traditional instruments. Several of these are songs that are still familiar, but use tunes older than the ones that are currently popular for the same lyrics. Some of the songs are not familiar unless you're an early-music freak - but then, I know there's a few of you on my flist. Several things in Latin. "Personent Hodie" is one of my favorite Latin carols (not to be confused with just plain "Hodie," which is another carol, and not on this album).
Danny Wright: Merry Christmas. Purports to be with the Dallas Brass (before they became Rhythm and Brass) but it's not very brassy. Also includes the Texas Boys Choir. Mostly traditional, mostly not very inspired. Good background music.
Oscar Brand: My Christmas is Best. Oscar Brand is a voice I can recognize pretty instantly. Includes songs from Christmas traditions around the world, and a Chanukah song. Perhaps nicest is "Frere Jacques" which I always knew was about a monk, but many people don't, and I hadn't associated it with Christmas before I first heard this album - I'm not sure whether Brand added the Christmas verses himself. This is on a mini-disk, from one of our old vinyl or tape albums, and I don't have the original album notes. Anyway, the gimmick of the little kid insisting "My Christmas is best!" wears thin, but the songs are nice.
Lisa Neustadt: Shout for Joy. Lots of a capella singing. Another one that's on mini-disk and I don't have the original album notes, but one of the guest singers sure SOUNDS like Jean Redpath! Couple of spirituals in with the traditional carols. A version of "Es ist ein Rose Entsprungen" which uses a different translation than we normally hear, and the carol is here called "Flower of Jesse." There's also a version of "Silent Night" which uses a different translation, closer to the original German words than the version we usually hear today. Anyway, if you're a fan of a capella harmony, you'd like this; if you aren't, you wouldn't. We do.
Trout Fishing in America: Merry Fishes to All. Well, it's Trout Fishing, so it's funny. The first song is "Chocolate Christmas." My favorite is "The Eleven Cats of Christmas." Some of the songs are written to appeal to the 10-year-old boy demographic, but have enough twists in them to be funny for grown-ups too. It's difficult to explain Trout Fishing to people who haven't heard them - they're a folk-music duo that doesn't sing traditional stuff. FWIW, the lyrics to this album are available at http://www.troutmusic.com, if you'd like to get an idea.