Day 8 of Art Every Day: And Johnny Thunders was half alive when he wrote Chinese Rocks
John Willmot penned his poetry
riddled with the pox
Nabakov wrote on index cards,
at a lectem, in his socks
St. John of the Cross did his best stuff
imprisoned in a box
And JohnnyThunders was half alive
when he wrote Chinese Rocks
Well, me, I’m lying here, with nothing in my ears
Inspired by Nick Cave’s “There She Goes, My Beautiful World” (rest of lyrics here) an ode to writer’s block. So the photo and the lyrics and my world collide in one great mashup.
I hate being confined to the house; my brain wants to atrophy. Knowing that I’m stuck here not able to do much until Monday or so makes me feel claustrophobic and restless. I tried to write today but ended up with a blank page. I tried to do photos today, but when your subjects have to be found within your house, it gets frustrating and useless.
I could go for a walk, but I don’t know if the ground will give way while I’m out there, if the dizziness will overcome me in the middle of the sidewalk and one of my weird neighbors will come out and see me lying there and soon the neighborhood will be buzzing with rumors of my craziness. “Yes, she decided to take a nap right there on the sidewalk!”
The meds aren’t working, not in the small dose I’m taking, so the doctor told me to take a bit more tonight. The half dose makes me drowsy, but doesn’t take away the vertigo. I suppose the full dose will take away the vertigo with the caveat of it making me pass out instead. I prefer to stay awake and have the company of Todd after being alone in the house all day; if I sit still on the couch, I won’t have to worry about losing my balance and crashing into the walls so my kids can point and laugh and make jokes about hiding the gin bottles. Funny stuff.
Anyhow, writing is sort of useless at this point. Dinner is unmade (we might go to the diner, if Todd doesn’t mind the chance that I might either a) pass out in my BLT or b) stumble like my kid forgot to hide the gin), I’m still in the pajamas I threw on after I got back from the bloodwork – which I drove myself to, which I am chastising myself for now – I had flashbacks to when I was a teenager and stupidly drove drunk, thinking I was fine, fine, fine when I was anything but. Have I mentioned how much the vertigo makes me feel like I’m drunk? Which is an odd feeling, as I haven’t had a drink since August of 2006 and it would be nice if I was going to feel like this to at least have had the pleasure of sipping a martini beforehand.
Which reminds me of my recipe for the perfect martini:
1 bottle gin
1 bottle vermouth
1 jar olives
1 martini glass
Open vermouth, pour contents down the sink. Stare at martini glass, wondering why you are even going to bother pretending like you are drinking for fun. Put glass back. Open gin. Drink from bottle, coming up for breath about every ten seconds until bottle is empty. Slam bottle on counter, open olives. Put olive on each finger and hold up hands, shouting “Look, olive mittens!” Pass out on kitchen floor.
I really don’t miss drinking. But I do miss knowing the spins would go away eventually.
But Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell wrote Chinese Rocks.
just quoting lyrics here…
Exactly, that’s why we need to write a letter to nick cave.
From wiki: Johnny Thunders…had nothing to do with ‘Chinese Rocks’ at all.”[9] Nevertheless, on the first pressing of L.A.M.F. the song is credited to Heartbreakers frontman Thunders and guitarist Walter Lure, as well as to Ramone and Hell.
Well, whatever. This post wasn’t really about the song, anyhow.
Michele, I’ve had vertigo (episodic) for 10 years – it totally sucks. I hope yours is not the kind that comes back. And back. If you ever want some possibly helpful hints, gmail me. It is horrible to have the dizzy without having had the fun.
Caitlin, I would email you but I don;’t have your email address
I’ve had problems with dizziness for years now because of an inner ear problem. I do have a little free home remedy you can try if you like.
If you’re standing somewhere and you feel the dizziness come on, pinch the skin between your eyebrows. It’s a pressure point that’s supposed to help with the dizziness. It’s not great, but it’s worked for me in a sudden “Oh no, here we go, where’s the floor” emergency.