Life in spite of Legionnaires

Legionnaires is no joke.  I’m still dealing with it.  I’m not contagious as it’s 

not a person-to-person thing.  Man oh man.  Just from all the resting, my body is de-conditioning.  When I walked to my voting place some weeks ago and walked back, I had Charlie horse almost everywhere including my gluteus. 

Allowing myself to sleep as long as I can allows me to have many dreams.  

Unfortunately, they have all been disturbing.  But better they get expressed than just stuffed inside.

I had felt very hopeful for over a week of feeling much better.  Then I 

caught a cold (which given the situation, doesn’t feel like just a cold), and I’ve been coughing so much.  My chest and rib area muscles are sore from all the coughing.  Lordy, Lordy.

For Thanksgiving, I turned down two invitations from friends because the 

holiday is too depressing for me.  I stayed home and pretended it was just a regular day.  That was the least problematic way for me to go this year.  The last time I accepted an invitation for Thanksgiving, I felt like I brought my depression with me and couldn’t contribute good spirit to the event.  I didn’t want to do that again.  Glad it is behind me.

On a brighter note, for my friend Judy’s birthday, we went to see a 

staged reading of “The Panic Defense” by Sam Affoumado.  It was very intriguing and well cast.  It was about the dangers of being gay, bi, trans, etc. in our homophobic society.  We were both glad we went to see it.  I love being with Judy no matter where we go.

The next day I had plans to meet up with my poetry pal Robert Gibbons, a 

very talented writer and good human being.  But I don’t feel good every day, and that day I didn’t feel well so I cancelled.  I miss out on much, but I have to listen to my body. The day after that, I didn’t get to a poetry workshop I had been attending.  More missing out.  I have to get better already. 

I make plans with my hopeful self and then sometimes wonder why I made 

plans.  I think what did I get myself into?  Climbing up train steps is so difficult, but I take it slow.

Last Sunday I was in a Brevitas poetry festival at the Bowery Poetry Club.  My friend Mindy Levokove was in it too, and I was happy I’d be seeing her.  Additionally two friends attended.  Bernie, who had been a co-worker and office-mate at my last job, was there and enjoyed the whole event.  It was good to see him again.  Richard, a playwright and former co-worker of mine, also attended.  He enjoyed some of the event.  He stayed for my part of the reading and left before the event was over.  I understand that too.  The reading was three hours long, so if it doesn’t appeal to you, it feels very long.  I get it.  I was glad to be there and to be a part of the whole Brevitas community.  I connected with many people that were new to me.  I saw many who I don’t see often.  I have two copies of the anthology where five of my short poems live.  We had food and drinks afterwards and were able to talk to each other.  One of my favorite moments was when I said hello to Angelo Verga, and he took my hand and kissed it.  It’s really nice to be treated like that.

In the pic below, not everyone remained until the end, so it is only part of the bunch.  I'm bottom center.

The next day, my best buddy Bob helped me with many things.  One thing 

was he drove me to a local shelter where I donated ten bags of my too-small clothes and five bags of my books and magazines.  That’s a lot of stuff out of my cluttered apartment.  Yay!  Thank you, Bob!

The day after that, I went for a mammo.  (No comedy about that yet.) 

Then that night, I performed comedy at the Producers Club.  The host, Micheal O'Rourke, introduced me as “the Queen.”  J  I admit I had a great set.  The audience members high-fived me when I stepped down.  I was pretty thrilled.  I met comics I didn’t know before.  A comedy friend, Mark, came to the show to support, so afterwards we went for coffee and talked lots about doing comedy.  I enjoy that as much as performing especially because we are on the same wavelength about things.

I even made it to a poetry workshop at my friend David’s house the next 

night.  I was very glad I went.  It was the night before Thanksgiving.  I brought a poem about killing a cockroach.  They had a good time with it, and I received helpful feedback.  We went to dinner afterwards at a Thai restaurant.  David and Jessica surprised me by treating.  I didn't expect that but truly appreciated it.

The three days following, I’ve been home and trying to feel better.  Oy. 

I have more to share, but next time.  Enjoy your long weekend.

Big love to CGG-M!