This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Diverticulitis and Other Downers (#BOTB Results)


  Let me get down to business before I get to business.  After all, life is full of surprises and sometimes the pleasure gets stepped on by the business...

Battle of the Bands Results



         My previous Battle between The John Mayer Trio and the pairing of Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso with contrasting versions of the Jimi Hendrix song "Wait Until Tomorrow" had a surprising outcome.   This looked like a shutout with the Mayer Trio rapidly taking a lead until votes started pouring in for Veloso/Gil.  Whew!  Thanks to all who help prevent a dreaded shut out. 

         Actually the outcome was pretty amazing.  My vote went to Veloso/Gil because their version was unique and told the song's story better.  And I liked the percussive Brazilian style.  Mayer may have won in the end, but it was a squeaker. 

Final Vote Tally

John Mayer      11 votes

Veloso/Gil        10 votes


Sometimes You Have to Wait for Tomorrow

         When I prepared my previous post I knew that some negative vibes were in the air for me.  Then, the cherry was placed on top of a crap sundae.  This past Monday I ended up in the ER with severe stomach pain.  The diagnosis was diverticulitis.  I'd heard of this before and now I know a lot more about it.  For one thing it hurts--a lot. 

          All day Sunday I had been feeling poorly and in the evening I considered going to the ER.  But I figured that it was something that would go away after a good night's sleep.  As it turned out, I didn't get much sleep and at 4 AM I told my wife I was going to the ER.  Going to the hospital is nowhere on my list of favorite things.  I don't even like to visit a hospital.  However the staff was very nice and accommodating and got me out in about 8 hours with two prescriptions for antibiotics which so far have made me feel almost as bad I had felt previously.  Now I'll have ten days of taking those.  Hopefully I'll get more accustomed to the side effects.  I just have to wait until tomorrow I guess to see if I feel better.

         As I indicated on August 1st, my current post would provide an update about my Cover Version Challenge of my song "Let's Run".   I had put out a call to any singers/musicians/producers to make a cover version to be pitted in my next Battle of the Bands post.   So far no luck from the blogging community.  I still need to reach out to more of my musician friends to see if anyone wants to take me up on this. Over all though, my mind has not been focused on this so I haven't done very much about it.

       I'm still trying to stay optimistic about this Cover Version Challenge, but seeing as how I only have a week before my next BOTB post I doubt whether this Battle will take place on August 15th.  If not then that's okay--I'll extend it to the Battle of September 1.  If anyone is interested in doing this, I will send rough recordings of the melody line and partial vocals along with a lyric sheet. You just have to let me know an email address where to send it. 

        Also I'm going to add an alternative approach.  If you'd rather just come up with your own melody behind my lyrics then we can be song collaborators.  And once I'm back to a better performance level I will continue to try to come up with another cover myself. 

         That's the update for now.  We'll find out more in my next post...


Next Battle of the Bands on Wednesday August 15th!

         What will it be?  You'll have to come back to find out.


Have you ever experienced diverticulitis?   Are you good at improvising when things don't turn out like you planned or hoped?    Do you have any other suggestions where I might find someone who might be interested in participating in my Cover Version Challenge

            





27 comments:

  1. Wow, sorry you ended up at the hospital. Those must be some crappy drugs. Hope they start to work soon.
    If I wasn't so busy, I'd consider contributing on guitar for your song.

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    1. Alex, at least my visit to the hospital didn't include any overnight stays. Those are the worst. Wish we could collaborate on something musical. Maybe someday.

      Lee

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  2. Oh darn, Arlee! I hope you get better soon and every other part of your life improves.

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    1. Loni, hope things don't get worse other than just getting older.

      Lee

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  3. I'm sorry about the diverticulitis. I just finished ten days worth of antibiotics, but thank heaven I didn't feel almost as bad while I was taking them. What did they give you?

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    1. John, they gave me ciprofloxacin and Metronidazol. Never heard of them before but if they work then that will be good.

      Lee

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    2. strong stuff. You will feel better at the end of the course.

      Delete
  4. My heart goes out to you Lee, So sorry you ended in hospital. Hope all will be well soon.
    Take care.
    Yvonne.

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    1. Yvonne, thanks. At least I'm out and back home where I prefer to be.

      Lee

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  5. My mom had a divrticulitis diagnosis when I was about third grade. First they thought it might be an ectopic pregnancy, which would have been a stretch as she was closing in on 50. Thankfully they didn't think that of you. Anyway, with that vote so close I'm glad I deferred, I might have caused a tie on a song I was ambivilent on.

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    1. CW, no pregnancy here. I don't need that kind of pain though it would probably make me very famous and possibly rich. Okay, I'll take the pregnancy.

      I'd rather have had the tie and your vote. But then again you might have just increased the margin of the win.

      Lee

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  6. Hi Lee - glad they could diagnose it quickly for you ... and I too hope it'll ease off and you'll be feeling easier soon ... take care - cheers Hilary

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    1. Hilary, they are pretty good at my hospital. Hopefully this was a correct diagnosis and it's not something else worse.

      Lee

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  7. A real downer about the ER visit and the diagnosis, LEE. Very sorry to hear of that. I don't know much about Diverticulitis (hell, I don't even know how to spell it! ...Or did I just guess right?) but I've heard that it really takes the fun out of a person's breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.

    I hope you're feeling much, much better soon!

    Your Battle turned out GREAT! Man, a one-vote margin of victory -- those are the king of the hill, the top of the heap, A-number-one!

    I didn't really care for the song much (like I said, "Hendrix") but I think I was one of the first few to vote for Veloso/Gil, and I never dreamed at that time that this would wind up so close.

    Wish I could help you with your original BOTB concept, but I assure you you'd not want anything I could contribute musically.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS'

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    1. STMcC, my appetite has decrease and I have to limit the kinds of things that I eat. But it was that way before this problem arose. I'm already feeling better physically, but still a lot of things kind of suck right now.

      This Battle outcome was a huge surprise for me and a pleasant one at that.

      Well maybe you can come up with a song version anyway. I've heard some pretty good kazoo covers.

      Lee

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  8. I've heard it's awful. It's probably a good thing you didn't wait any longer.

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    1. L.Diane, I'm the kind of person who will just suffer and try to wait things through so the pain was pretty bad to make me decide to go to the ER.

      Lee

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  9. Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well. Glad that you took the step to go to the ER and find a cause. I had a friend years ago who suffered from divirticulosis. He said it was quite painful and had to be extra careful about what he ate. Hope you're on the mend soon.

    ~Mary

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    1. Mary, I'm feeling better. Things are looking up for now, but I'm still riding life's roller coaster.

      Lee

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  10. When a man says he has to go to the ER, then the pain is unbearable. Husband had kidney stones once.

    The colon is in charge of the body. Hope to hear you feel better soon.

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    1. Susan, I held out as long as I could and then realized the pain might actually be something serious. I tolerate pain fairly well.

      Feeling stronger every day.

      Lee

      Delete
  11. That must have been some ordeal, Lee! I hope you're feeling better now. Nice to see a close battle, even though my choice lost.

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    1. Debbie D, it seemed worse while it was happening, but now looking back it was just another life hassle that I had to deal with.

      Lee

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  12. Sorry to hear about your health! My father has diverticulitis, and developed it maybe ten or so years ago. He has to watch what he eats more carefully, though he's not always as strict as he's supposed to be.

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    1. Carrie-Anne, I find it so difficult to eat right. I need to have a live-in nutrition and chef.

      Lee

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  13. Hey Lee,
    So sorry to hear that you had to go to the ER. That's never fun. And it always takes soooo long to get through the whole process so on top of feeling crappy and being in pain, the long waits (waiting for the doctor, waiting to be taken for the tests, waiting for the test results then waiting for the doctor again...) it's all just maddening! I feel for ya.
    I don't know anything at all about your condition. Diverticulitis. I'll have to look it up. My Mom suffers from lymphacetic colitis which is horrible. I'm thinking the diverticulitis may be similar or involve the same organs??

    Anyway, I sure hope you get to feeling better real soon. Take good care of yourself...

    See you at your upcoming battle.

    Michele at Angels Bark

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    1. Michele, I'm already feeling better as far as the diverticulitis is concerned. I'm still getting older, but not much can fix that I guess.

      Lee

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Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.
I normally try to respond to all comments in the comment section so please remember to check the "Email follow-up comments" box if you want to participate in the comment conversation.

For Battle of the Bands voting the "Anonymous" commenting option has been made available though this version is the least preferred. If voting using "anonymous" please include in your comment your name (first only is okay) and city you are voting from and the reason you chose the artist you did.

If you know me and want to comment but don't want to do it here, then you can send me an email @ jacksonlee51 at aol dot com.

Lee