daBlog by goddess101

Recovery

Ah, to be back amongst the living again.

Last week was pure hell. I programmed myself into to a state of dizziness, nausea and constant headaches after a grueling 14 hour session of ANSI C and a billion cups of coffee. It was quite a scary time. Never have I just laid in bed and felt dizzy before. In fact, the dizziness would only stop after I sat up and took deep breaths to calm myself down.

I don’t know that I can actually pinpoint the problem. I eventually decided it was a combination of overwork, too much caffeine, and dehydration. Whatever it was, I had dizzy spells for two days, which I spent mostly on the couch or in a very darkened bedroom (much to cilibrar’s discontent, especially since it was his project I was working on). I quickly decided to decaffeinate and start drinking lots of water.

After those first couple of days, the dizziness finally went away, but then I was in a constant state of headaches and hunger, like I was getting one of those hunger headaches and the only thing that could make it go away was food… but the hunger and headaches wouldn’t disappear.

Plus, I was like an invalid. I couldn’t really do anything. Working was out of the question. Looking at a computer screen was painful. I had absolutely no energy. All I could do was sleep all day.

Finally, I’m almost back to normal. I still have slight headaches, but I think that’s due to bigtime caffeine withdrawal. And I’ve started pilates again, which I sure needed these past months because all this time working at the computer and eating pre-processed pizzas has made me flabby. And best of all, I can start playing World of Warcraft again, because the motion-sickness ain’t so bad anymore. haha!

Anyways, caffeine… NEVER AGAIN! (Unless my landlord downstairs offers a cup of coffee which is always so delish!)

Seeing Dead People

Pope John Paul II died Saturday night, and since then, it’s been impossible to watch CNN (the international version), which cilibrar and I do on a daily basis, without mention of his death.

For a couple of days now, thousands upon thousands of people are flocking to Rome to get a glimpse of the now deceased pontiff, who is now on “display” the Vatican. It’s kinda weird because there is no casket. He’s basically on a platform which is slightly at an angle so that if you were to stand at his feet, you can see his face a bit better. He’s dressed in his beautuful crimsom robes, and that funny Pope hat, holding one of those golden cross thingies. And the mourners who are paying their respects just walk by, of course guided by guide rails.

What I found disturbing tho, was some people were actually taking pictures of the Pope, often times holding their cameras above their heads so as to get a better shot. I’ve already expressed how I hate it when people take pictures for the sake of taking pictures so this is even more disgusting to me. Is this how they want to remember him? Why take a picture at all? Except to prove that they were there?

Seems a bit selfish to me, and somewhat inhuman. Why reduce this man who did so many great things in his life to what is essentially a tourist attraction?

Ugh, just doesn’t seem right. I often think about my grandmother, who passed away 8 years ago, and I’ve seen, since then, photos of her at her funeral in her casket. It saddened me because it reminded me of such a sad time in my life and I always hated the way she looked during the viewing because she didn’t look like the Lola I remembered. Missing were her glasses and curly locks. In their place was overly teased hair and makeup which I had never seen on her before. I dislike thinking about it, and loathe seeing pictures. Instead, I love the pictures in which she’s smiling and still full of life, often sandwiched between the priests she adored, or the family who adored her.

I would think that people would feel the same way about the Pope, particularly those who waited hours to see him and pay their respects. But these folks who insist on taking photographs, I don’t know.