What's Doctor Who?

It all started a little under two years ago now. When I re-started a Tumblr account and frequenting Pinterest....Then some people I've met in real life start whispering, "Doctor Who."

Me being the inquisitive person I am...

Made the dreaded mistake...

I asked the question...

THE QUESTION THAT MUST NEVER BE ANSWERED!!!! OR SILENCE WILL FALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

Me: "What's Doctor Who?" 

Response from internet people: "OOOOOHHHHH GUUUURRRLLL U DONt kNOOWWW??" 

Me: "Well, yeah. I don't know. What is it?" 

Internet People: GUURRRRLLL!!!!!

Me: 

                                                     I shouldn't be here :(

^ This response was only slightly better then the response from humans in the wild. (Which is usually a blank stare, or they look away dismissively. Presumably because I don't worship at the Altar of the Fandom-God)

                                     You thought I was kidding, didn't you? Ha! I wish.

Now that I've watched most of the new series, I'd like to get the truth out there so curious people like me can get some straight answers without getting shunned by friends (or attacked by the fandom-mob).

• Doctor Who is a television program. It fits firmly into the Science-Fiction/Drama category. 
• It's made by British people and most of the actors are British  (its' actually a laugh to see how they think of other countries, particularly America, in some of the episodes)
• It's a fun show. Along the lines of the old-school Star Trek and Twilight Zone. If you've watched LOST (I have) you won't have any problem understanding the time-travel aspect of the show.  Lots of adventure, mystery, intrigue. Some humor and silliness. 
•  It's a fairly clean program. (Especially when compared to American programming counterparts) More on this below.
•  It has its thought provoking moments. Like "Star Trek", "Twilight Zone" and "LOST" there is frequently and emotional solution to a complex scientific problem. Self-sacrifice is praised and hope a midst adversity is a big theme. 

A few other things you should know:

1) If you watch the show, and find it's not your style that's OK.

2) If you watch the show and don't like it when the writer/director/actors change, you don't have to continue watching the show. And you certainly don't have to go on Tumblr and complain about it how "horrible" it's gotten when it's really just a matter of your opinion. (Though I certainly won't stop you, I just feel it's a waste of your time.)

3) Doctor Who is a mostly family friendly program. But that doesn't stop mild swear words and violence from occurring. Also issues relating to various types of sexuality are frequently explored.

I'd recommend pre-viewing it before allowing children to watch. Even though there isn't a lot of explicit stuff, some of it is intense. If you wouldn't let your kid watch Twilight Zone, I wouldn't recommend letting them watch Doctor Who.

Walking and Writing

Last month I tried to train for a mini-marathon I'm doing a few months from now. Unfortunately Flower the Dog who follows me whenever I go walking or jogging almost got her head ripped off by a group of dogs as a result.

Stupid effing dog! I didn't do a lot of working out after that. I'll have to find a different way to do that...

This month I want do something for writing. Not a lot of writing...maybe just 31 500 word stories...one for each day. I've been thinking about it and I think it's something that will help me do better at writing.

Here is my first little ficlet:

 Dro dropped me off at the hotel told me to wait, he told me he'd be there soon. Liar.

I gave our names at the door and caught the blue eye of a freckle-faced young woman, her face promptly flushed with red and turned away from me. In my own ignorant way, I attributed this to local norms, perhaps they have an aversion to eye contact. It could have been so, I don't know, I'd never been to The Isles before.

I was still wearing the jumpsuit with the logo on it, it surprised me that they even let me in without asking for identification. This should have tipped me off, but I was younger then and I can definitely say this experience taught me a few things.

The staff welcomed in to a “suite” which is kind of like a really nice house that was stacked on top of other houses. It was the most beautiful room I'd ever seen; clean and white, with a fireplace and a balcony with a view of the ocean.

It is also funny, though now in an entirely non-humorous way, I didn't feel tether anymore. No longer did I feel it eating at my back, I thought I was free.

I took of my jacket and noticed something different. It felt different. I removed the upper-half of my jumpsuit and immediately realized why Dro needed to get me new clothes.

Somehow great cuts of meat had attached themselves to my skeleton leaving great ripples on my arms, chest, back, stomach...everywhere. That wasn't the only change, my skin was two shades lighter. My eyes an even shade of brown. I blinked and touched my arm where the bulbus pocket of flesh was. It didn't hurt, but it didn't feel like it was a part of me either. He said I would like it, but I didn't I liked being a tall teenager with extra long limbs, large hands, uneven skin tone. That was a normal body. This body was a freak.

“You.” I said waving a finger at my reflection, as if glare back guiltily. “I hate you.”

My mind started racing, I started doing some ritualistic activity, the type of thing I always used to do at home when situations seemed out of my control. Dro's clothing was organized by color (which was had because almost all of his clothing is brown or gray). My jump-suits were folded neatly, the room was immaculately clean. The only thing dirty was my skin which I realized would probably look even more pale when the layers of dirt were removed.

Dro had some explaining to do when he got back.

It wasn't until I was in the shower that I realized he wasn't coming. It wasn't long after that, that I stopped thinking.

Looking back, I realize I should have thought a little more. I should have wondered why he'd sent me in alone, I shouldn't have assumed he was just parking the car. It should have crossed my mind that he could have sent me in to hurt someone, it was the first time I'd simply done as he told me. My first mistake.

I could feel his thoughts of things so alien I can't explain as we walked down a long hallway and knocked on a door.  

Re-Writer's Block

So frustrating. I have so much inspiration for writing but I can't find the write (right, sorry...) way to say it right now. I'm still editing my nano novel and I've discovered that I'm writing the main character too mellow.

*(Note: the main character is an Evil Lizard Person who was/is the villain in my 2010 nano novel. Whenever I read the lines he speaks in that book I cringe and visualize poking his eyeballs with a pin. He is NOT a nice guy. He's a two faced, back-stabbing, insincere, lying, obnoxious, hypocritical, EVIL lizard person.  How did I make him mellow? Really!)

The truth is, pretty early on I knew he wasn't going to stay a bad guy forever. In fact, in my Script frenzy (which I didn't finish all the way) he actually turns good. (I was so proud of myself for making that part happen and not having it feel too cheesy)

But 'My Life Among the Animals' is a Prequel. He's got to be TOTALLY obnoxious and evil in it or else it just ruins the whole point of writing his story in the first place. The character arc won't be complete.

I guess I should have waited, wrote this story first and then the Scriptfrenzy sequel. Now that I know what the problem is, I can write him a little more true to character. I'll have to re-arrange some things in the story-line though.

Just for kicks: here are pictures of three different kind of wristwatches.

Analogue

Steampunk

And Digital

Interesting, huh?

Diabetes and Dialysis

I work at a nursing home and when someone gets sick I am responsible for sending them out to the hospital.

Once after sending someone out, the LVN and I were working on paperwork and the CNA asked:
"Why are so many Dialysis people diabetic?" (If you don't know, dialysis is a procedure that filters waste from the blood by any number of methods...areustillreadingthis?ok.itsabouttogetlessboringipromise...the most common being directly from the blood through an artificial shunt or catheter. People often get sick after undergoing dialysis because the filtering process takes out so many chemicals from the blood and their body can't handle it.)

"Well, you know, that's what causes renal failure."

"What?"

"Yeah, those big sugar globules in your blood? They get caught in the renal tubules, in your kidneys, and make it so your urine can't filter out of your blood."

On thing I should probably add: this co worker admitted to me that she has been a diabetic since she was a child and has never sought treatment or lived a "diabetic lifestyle".

She didn't say anything, but the look on her face told me that this was the first she'd ever heard of such a thing. People have a tenancy to dismiss chronic illness when they don't feel symptoms. They say stuff like, "Its not a big deal for me", and "You only live once", but they never think of that when they really come to terms with their own mortality.

(I'm going to have to edit myself here because I could really go into specifics...but it would take too long.)

I didn't tell my co worker the rest of the pathophys. That high glucose levels damage every capillary bed in your body...your brain, your heart, your fingertips causing vascular disease and tissue death.

What we did talk about (a little bit, it was kind of a crazy night): that diabetes today is a very manageable illness. Because it is fairly common, it's been studied extensively. There are tons of alternatives that make living a lifestyle in which a diabetic person can keep their glucose levels under control much easier.  And that is what prevents massively dehabilitated state I see a lot of people in.

I don't want to be the one to go around "YOU WILL DIE A TERRIBLE DEATH IF YOU DO SUCH AND SUCH!" (Well, actually, I kind of would, but people don't respond to that very well. ;D ) but it's amazing how powerful, and applicable, a simple fact can be to the person who doesn't know it yet.

It was kind of nice because the next day, she showed up to work with a whole wheat sandwich, with lots of romaine lettuce!  Made me feel real good.