Monday, May 21, 2007

Go to a movie and document the smells you encounter.

I haven't been well enough to go the movies yet! But I'll think about this when I go next time.

Go out to eat and document the sounds you hear.

Well, Friday was the first day I ventured out. Went to Gumbo-A-Go-Go in Nora. There was soft, bluesy New Orleans style music playing out of the speakers and (seemingly artwork) but never loud enough to interrupt conversation. The front door was open, so there was midday traffic on 86Th street stopping and going. Friday was "Ride your Bike to Work Day" so a lot of bicycle clicks could be heard out on the side walk. My boyfriend got a phone call, so I nonchalantly eavesdropped in and out on people's conversations. The guy across the restaurant thinks the girl at Starbucks is too happy and should be fired for it. The people next to us are laughing at some weird joke I didn't understand. An old lady got her order to go, but sat down at a table anyway then was rambling on about the food in her bag -to herself. The owner was talking to his employee in the back of the restaurant about orders. I could hear food cooking, a water running, ice being made in the machine. Now that I was bored with the restaurant, I paid attention to our table. The scraping of my plastic fork against my Styrofoam plate was almost inaudible. My straw made a slurp noise when I drank from it, and a soft 'clank' when I sat it down. Brad, my boyfriend, was still on the phone and not eating, so I couldn't listen to the sounds he made. During his phone call, he'd just found out his uncle died from lung cancer that spread to his esophagus and, lastly, his spinal cord. The rest of the lunch I could hear us trying to come up with a plan to convince Brad's mom to stop smoking (the uncle's sister).

Listen to music and document what you see.

I did this one differently. Last Wednesday I had a severe migraine that, for some reason, I couldn't alleviate at all - almost had to go to the doc and get shots for it. It got to the point where I was disoriented, and decided to try to just lay on the couch with an ice pack on my head. Well, that same day my apartment complex decided to have renovations done to the outside of my building, so I had workers up on ladders on all 3 sides of the outside of my apartment... HAMMERING. I think there were even some up on the roof. Anyway, I had my eyes closed because it hurt to see light. And I had all the tvs off because it hurt to hear sound. But I had like, at least 6 guys hammering all around me. And I swear every time I heard a hammer I saw a different color. Mostly white and bright yellows. Either that, or I almost officially lost it that day.

Get ready for your day and document what you physically feel.

The first thing I feel when I get ready is the water in the shower. I don't like it too hot, just barely warm... but it doesn't matter. It always runs out after 10 minutes anyway. Then I felt icy cold pin pricks as though I was being stabbed my 1000's of needles while I desperately tried to get the conditioner out of my hair.
While brushing my teeth, I could feel the smooth handle on the toothbrush, the soft bristles, and the toothpaste foaming inside of my mouth. I buy the extra foamy kind. For some reason, I think it means it makes my teeth extra clean.
Time to tame my unruly hair. First I picked through the wet tangles with a comb. I ran my hand through my hair. I could feel some rogue strands stuck to my fingers as near the end. Disgusting. I hate the feeling of wet hair stuck to me. I spent forever trying to pick off each hair off my hand. Then I squirted some styling mousse in the palm of my hand. Its so light and fluffy, I couldn't really feel that anything was there. After putting it in my hair, I had to blow dry it. I could feel the hot air of the dryer on different parts of my head, which made the air feel like it had different temperatures.
For makeup, I could feel the different brushes against my skin. Each brush has a different texture and softness, and therefore a totally different sensation. And then of course, like every other day, I ended up with make up in my eye - actually on my contact - and then felt PAIN until I could clean it off.

1 comment:

spyroterra said...

These are great! Are you sure you want to throw in the towel? I understand if you do - migraines are crap... But I think you are really making progress, even if you don't think you are. If you can't make it to class, we can make some other arrangement...

But the most important thing is to take care of yourself. It is really your call, but I am here for you if you want to try (or even if you decide it is not a good thing for you to continue at this point...)

Just promise to stay in touch, no matter what. You have a lot of talent and I want to help you forge it!