We returned last week from a whirlwind west coast book tour. Here are some lessons and reflections on the journey:
1. 12 cities in 14 days qualifies as overbooking!
2. Driving 9 hours in any one day with book event in between qualifies as poor planning! And learned that book events and driving are not always the best combo.
3. Motel continental breakfasts now almost routinely include make your own waffles. I can safely say that any waffle craving I had at earlier moments of this pregnancy are well taken care of and I can easily go to term and probably for a full year without eating a waffle.
4. The people who ask the most questions are universally the least likely to purchase a book.
5. There is no rhyme or reason to turn out, book sales or responsiveness of a crowd. Making predictions is fun to show how off we are almost every time!
6. How many people in the world, let alone authors, can say that Yuma was a highlight?
7. The saddest moment of the book tour was stopping in Dateland AZ. What was once my favorite town in AZ, the place that grows the most dates of any place in the US and is world famous for dateshakes a brilliant invention that combines ice cream and dates, any better combo ever? has been torn down and replaced by a quiznos and a quickiemart gift shop. Quiznos now sells date shakes that take about 15 seconds to make. The diner is gone - the 1950's date gift shop is gone and one more piece of quintessential Americana is gone forever. It was a devastating stop that allowed us to get to our destination quicker than planned because I was far too distraught to hang out.
8. Got to catch up with wonderful friends in LA, Bay area, Portland and Seattle.
9. Realized that Tucson is the only place we have ever spent 2 months in without making a single friend - as exemplified by our crowd of 5 people at the U of A book event, far and away the worst turn out of any where! And we managed to be in Tucson for the first rainy day in 6 weeks and by rain in Tucson I mean torrential downpours for 8 hours straight!
10. It was so fun to meet members of the lettuce crew and hear their memories from the 08 season. Almost every one of their memories is in the book which I really hope comes out in Spanish soon so they can read it!
11. Who knew we knew so many people in Portland?
12. Mr T. walked to the studio to do the Tavis Smiley interview, no guest has EVER walked to the studio for an appearance - got to love LA!
13. Visiting LA on a beautiful clear day right after a rain storm offers best views ever!
14. Fun to visit so many independent bookstores on the west coast, somehow we never had enough time to ever browse or buy any books - in fact I probably read less in those 2 weeks than on any trip I have ever been on, except for a CISPES delegation. . .
15. My favorite question that Mr. T had to answer. Day 5 after 2 stressful media events, 5 bookstores and driving from AZ to LA and south, and a good 95 minutes into the event aka 95 min. of him talking straight, the following question comes from a senior in the crowd who has been dozing on and off for the whole talk: "What was in your heart when you decided to write this book?" And the brilliant answer: "I have a terrible memory, I don't really remember what was in my heart."
16. Knowing when to cut off a Q and A is an art form that many moderators do not possess!
17. Learned that hardcore Maoists still exist and they like to share their views.
18. I really like our bed!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
I'm speechless
Yesterday was a terrible day, I won't go in to it all but there were lots and lots of tears and very little sleep. It may be the lack of sleep that is making me laugh so hard about this latest turn of events.
This doctor comes in as i am lying there half naked and presses on my bladder for a while and makes some notes on the computer than starts saying that the amnio and blood work all look ok but the baby's size is still not right. I stopped him and said if we are going to talk about this I would like to get dressed! I shouldn't find out what's going on when i am lying half naked and can't even make eye contact with him. He got a little flustered and offered to meet in his office.
We go to his office and he tells us the heart looks good, all the tests came back fine, etc. and the head is a normal size but the bones are really small and he thinks the baby may be a dwarf and he offers us an abortion. I was in shock. Then he said that he would like us to see a genetic specialist b/c there are more tests to do to determine if it is a dwarf but that he can't order them only a genetics specialist could. We asked why we would get an abortion and without looking up or acknowledging that i am in the lowest height percentile in the country he says some people don't want short children.
I am too delirius and sleep deprived to process any of this right now!
This doctor comes in as i am lying there half naked and presses on my bladder for a while and makes some notes on the computer than starts saying that the amnio and blood work all look ok but the baby's size is still not right. I stopped him and said if we are going to talk about this I would like to get dressed! I shouldn't find out what's going on when i am lying half naked and can't even make eye contact with him. He got a little flustered and offered to meet in his office.
We go to his office and he tells us the heart looks good, all the tests came back fine, etc. and the head is a normal size but the bones are really small and he thinks the baby may be a dwarf and he offers us an abortion. I was in shock. Then he said that he would like us to see a genetic specialist b/c there are more tests to do to determine if it is a dwarf but that he can't order them only a genetics specialist could. We asked why we would get an abortion and without looking up or acknowledging that i am in the lowest height percentile in the country he says some people don't want short children.
I am too delirius and sleep deprived to process any of this right now!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
labels
I've been thinking a lot about labels lately. Here's our baby not even born yet and he's already labeled as "delayed," "small" etc. Friday was another rough day. We got to the doctor's office and were told that I didn't have a referral from my midwife for the fetal EKG, when no one ever told me or her that we needed a referral considering that the doctor was the one who told me to get it. I couldn't get in touch with her and they almost wouldn't do it, but finally agreed to do it with a retro referral.
The baby as usual was not into accomodating these annoying techs and so it took almost 2 hours of pushing on my bladder before she could get all the shots of the heart she needed. At one point she left the room to take a break and rest her hand. She came back and asked when our next appointment with the doctor was. This is our appointment with the doctor, I said. "no, he's not here today," she replied, "you only made an appointment for an ekg not for a follow-up consult" That's when i flipped.
So a bunch of non-experts have now told us that the amnio looks ok, though the doctor has not confirmed that. The tech thought the heart looked fine, but the baby has only grown about an ounce and is now officially 3 weeks behind and we have no idea what that really means and neither does my midwife.
I have an acupuncture appointment for this afternoon that i am hoping will help get the blood flowing to the baby. And we have an appointment with this same doc tomorrow though the thought of returning to his office makes me want to vomit.
In brighter news Mr T's book comes out this week and we are having a big book release party on Thursday. . .
The baby as usual was not into accomodating these annoying techs and so it took almost 2 hours of pushing on my bladder before she could get all the shots of the heart she needed. At one point she left the room to take a break and rest her hand. She came back and asked when our next appointment with the doctor was. This is our appointment with the doctor, I said. "no, he's not here today," she replied, "you only made an appointment for an ekg not for a follow-up consult" That's when i flipped.
So a bunch of non-experts have now told us that the amnio looks ok, though the doctor has not confirmed that. The tech thought the heart looked fine, but the baby has only grown about an ounce and is now officially 3 weeks behind and we have no idea what that really means and neither does my midwife.
I have an acupuncture appointment for this afternoon that i am hoping will help get the blood flowing to the baby. And we have an appointment with this same doc tomorrow though the thought of returning to his office makes me want to vomit.
In brighter news Mr T's book comes out this week and we are having a big book release party on Thursday. . .
Friday, January 15, 2010
no good title
So my strategy this week, to get through the week has been to stay extremely busy. I have been going to lectures, working in coffee shops, leaving the apt. first thing in the morning and not coming back till late. It's been working pretty well until 3:00 AM rolls around. I actually fall asleep but then wake up at 3 and my mind is racing racing racing.
I just found out that my midwife's mother was killed in the earthquake in Haiti and their house was destroyed. This really presonalizes this horrible horrible disaster. I am so sad for her. And she is the one who called me Monday night to give me the initial test results of the amnio after having been up all night and having done 4 deliveries in 3 days, I guess that was the day before the earthquake hit. I don't really know Martine so well but I have a gut feeling that she comes from a long line of healers, I am sure her mom must have helped many people in Haiti. Life just feels so endlessly cruel and unfair sometimes. She is trying to get to Haiti to bring her father back here. He was coming home as the quake struck so he was not in the house. It's so unfathomable what has happened there.
I was thinking of documenting all the things Hjalmer (we've started calling this creature inside me Hjalmer, a helmeted Finnish soldier, I keep reminding Mr. T not to grow too attached to that name because it will not last!) has done, places he's been, people he's hung out with in utero. A record of his pre-journey journey.
So this week Hjalmer went to 4 different coffee shops, 2 i Brooklyn 2 in Manhattan each for over 3 hours. A lecture about prostitutes and surveillance in early 20th century NYC at the tenement museum, drinks with Mr. T's co-workers, a lame immigrant rights rally at Judson Memorial church, the playground at washington square park with Haya and Leah, a movie about garbage in Cairo, biked over the Manhattan bridge 4 times, a CSA meeting, a long meeting at the PACC office, the supermarket and post office. It's been a busy week in utero! Lets hope the nutrients are finally getting to him.
Now we are off to buy a card and give some money to Martine to bring to Haiti with her as soon as she is able to get a flight!
I just found out that my midwife's mother was killed in the earthquake in Haiti and their house was destroyed. This really presonalizes this horrible horrible disaster. I am so sad for her. And she is the one who called me Monday night to give me the initial test results of the amnio after having been up all night and having done 4 deliveries in 3 days, I guess that was the day before the earthquake hit. I don't really know Martine so well but I have a gut feeling that she comes from a long line of healers, I am sure her mom must have helped many people in Haiti. Life just feels so endlessly cruel and unfair sometimes. She is trying to get to Haiti to bring her father back here. He was coming home as the quake struck so he was not in the house. It's so unfathomable what has happened there.
I was thinking of documenting all the things Hjalmer (we've started calling this creature inside me Hjalmer, a helmeted Finnish soldier, I keep reminding Mr. T not to grow too attached to that name because it will not last!) has done, places he's been, people he's hung out with in utero. A record of his pre-journey journey.
So this week Hjalmer went to 4 different coffee shops, 2 i Brooklyn 2 in Manhattan each for over 3 hours. A lecture about prostitutes and surveillance in early 20th century NYC at the tenement museum, drinks with Mr. T's co-workers, a lame immigrant rights rally at Judson Memorial church, the playground at washington square park with Haya and Leah, a movie about garbage in Cairo, biked over the Manhattan bridge 4 times, a CSA meeting, a long meeting at the PACC office, the supermarket and post office. It's been a busy week in utero! Lets hope the nutrients are finally getting to him.
Now we are off to buy a card and give some money to Martine to bring to Haiti with her as soon as she is able to get a flight!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Good News!
The initial reading of the amnio came in and all looks good!! Still waiting for more results but we are on the right track!!!!
new video
To keep my mind off of things I spent a good portion of the weekend editing a book trailer for Mr. T's new book. Check it out!
Friday, January 8, 2010
feelin better
Thanks for everyone's support! Once I made it home last night I took a nice hot bath with healing bath salts that Becca got me in Israel and we lit some soothing candles and my uterus finally calmed down. A preview to what a contraction must feel like!
The bath helped tremendously and so did the ginger ale. I managed to get some gatorade and noodle soup down too. My midwifes both called to see how I was doing which was nice they were upset that the doctor hadn't told me that the amnio often leads to cramping and that they recommend bedrest after. As one of them said it's an invasive procedure! So I have been taking it really easy today. I woke up starving at 4:30 AM, (what else is new?!) I wonder where all the food is going if not to the baby! Athough as Mr. T pointed out the baby weighs 8 ounces instead of 10 ounces, it's hardly significant in the scheme of my body. . . It's amazing that those 2 ounces can cause so much stress and confusion.
But after my 4 AM snack I managed to sleep pretty soundly and woke up hungry but rested and my stomach is pretty much back to normal, so that's a relief.
Now we just get to play the waiting game, a game I'm good at in the best of times!
I just found out that an old friend of mine's father died. I grew up as an honorary member of her big loud fun family and have always loved her father, he was such a warm, generous and vivacious person. Too much sadness for one week.
The bath helped tremendously and so did the ginger ale. I managed to get some gatorade and noodle soup down too. My midwifes both called to see how I was doing which was nice they were upset that the doctor hadn't told me that the amnio often leads to cramping and that they recommend bedrest after. As one of them said it's an invasive procedure! So I have been taking it really easy today. I woke up starving at 4:30 AM, (what else is new?!) I wonder where all the food is going if not to the baby! Athough as Mr. T pointed out the baby weighs 8 ounces instead of 10 ounces, it's hardly significant in the scheme of my body. . . It's amazing that those 2 ounces can cause so much stress and confusion.
But after my 4 AM snack I managed to sleep pretty soundly and woke up hungry but rested and my stomach is pretty much back to normal, so that's a relief.
Now we just get to play the waiting game, a game I'm good at in the best of times!
I just found out that an old friend of mine's father died. I grew up as an honorary member of her big loud fun family and have always loved her father, he was such a warm, generous and vivacious person. Too much sadness for one week.
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