reCALIbrated

Almost two weeks in California are to blame primarily for this blag. That, plus I fear the clearer my mind becomes- as the fog of chemo continues to clear as I wean myself off various pills and peripheral medical agents- the less confidence I have that anyone reads this thing. During my trip, however, so many people cooed in ear that they do read my blog frequently that I am recommitted. Also, I think I need to stop this new budding concern about who's reading this- who cares! I'm going to use that old public speaking tool and imagine ya'll NAKED reading this. Ha ha, look! there's my professor letting it all hang out! and whoa- there's matt in his skivvies! and- oh snap, dude, uncle willy, please put something on!
My Mama has been printing out these elegantly-bound books of all these ramblings and comments, so I'll consider this my own private journal of "Two Years in (Ti)bed(t)" (sigh. without Brad Pitt) filled with lame jokes such as that, the likes of which make my sister wonder aloud how on earth we are even related...

what a preamble. jeez.

so, cali.
a luscious time was had. there need not be a reason to visit friends and family, but I planned this trip to attend a friend's bachelorette party. given that my sweet, just finished her PhD, about to marry her high school sweetheart, friend, Artineh, doesn't drink alcohol nor does she find the idea of strippers in the least bit tempting (who does?), we threw her a circus. a party with lots of junk food, games, and friends. then, we went for a picnic at this gorgeous winery in malibu under clear blue skies and giant oak trees. because i cannot miss certain treatments, I am unable to attend her actual wedding (which I'm pretty sure would have been more like an anthropological adventure to participate in a 400-person traditional Armenian wedding!) but want to wish her and Sev all the camaraderie, affection, and adventure their lives can handle. congratulations, Art!

one of the other special treats was going to Catalina Island with Jamie and Uma. It was Uma's "first slumber party", her first night spent away from John and home since the aneurysm. Catalina is a great place for an ice-cream cone and, if you're lucky (as I was in 1997), a swim with dolphins. So other than dumb-luck and mint-chip, why waste your time when you can go to Cinque Terre? or Baja even? Wonderful to spend time with Jamie and Uma, but I'll leave Catalina to those who like two-foot wide fake beaches and overpriced hotels...

takers? anyone?

another special occurrence this trip was getting to meet ROBERT, anna's elopemate. he's a sweetheart who seems to love my girl Anna with all his kungfu might- plus, he makes an awesome breakfast skillet (topping last night's bbq with over-easy huevos... mmmm). i can see why she always calls him her little panda bear.

as for other tall women with their little loves, Andres got to meet the Kwoks this weekend in San Francisco. For those of you who don't know yet, (have you been living under a rock?) Jaci is and has been for quite some time now, dating dr. andres sirulnik. if you've been paying attention, the name will be familiar because he is and has been for quite some time now, my oncologist. He was there that first night in the ER as every hemo-doc was paged in for what they feared was going to be a very bad and sad night for some girl with a off-the-charts white-blood-cell count. He was there (as they jammed a needle in my groin to begin immediate blood cycling to get those bastards out) at the head of my cot instructing me to look at him (not down at my thank-god-i-shaved lower half) and making me laugh despite the palpable fear and confusion all around. These days, he makes me laugh at the dinner table several nights a week when I visit him and Jaci in their cute apartment near Fenway. And now, he's even met my extended eccentric most-excellent family in San Fran. Naturally, his convivial personality and do-anything-to-make-Jaci-smile MO led to a wonderful weekend. He's been like family to me since I moved to Boston and it's nice to envelop him into ours on the w(b)est coast too.

and then there's the fact that if he wasn't the sparkle in my sister's eye, i'd probably have killed him by now for all the frickin misery his damn chemotherapy causes me. in L.A., I had severe back pain from "coming off the steroids"--which makes me sound like a Bondsian addict experiencing withdrawal symptoms-- that left me prostrate on jamie's bed while she converted from clark kent into super nurse. here's how it goes (or: All You Need To Know About Cancer Treatment):

benzene exposure
traumatic catalyst
leukemia
chemo
back pain
oxycodone (painkiller)
nausea (particularly jolly on a ferry boat)
constipation
constipation meds
you know what comes next
etc etc etc

anyway, now i'm back in boston enjoying a second-hand cigarette wafting up to my window from my neighbor. ha ha ha! i laugh in the face of nicotine and tar! i'm way ahead of you wusses!

boston has the funny quality of being very comfortable while you're here, but possessing few to no reasons to miss it when you're gone.

even so, it's good to be HOME.