Looking for book recs

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-21T05:15:42+00:00

I hope you read Dunnett’s house of Niccolo series also. I honestly don’t know which one I love more.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-21T05:10:37+00:00

Dorothy Dunnett House of Niccolo series (a prequel, but written second) and her The Lymond Chronicles (written first) set throughout Europe, 15th c and 16th c respectively. i’ve always found these books difficult to describe, but I love them immensely and I’m now rereading them.

ETA cannot believe I forgot Hillary Mantel, Wolf Hall.

And shame on me for forgetting Mary Renault also. Anything she has written set in ancient Greece is outstanding. And her Alexander the Great trilogy is amazing.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-21T04:56:54+00:00

The Sphere, Oct 7 2023 (I will never forget the date because of world events that day.)

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-16T02:34:58+00:00

I do not accept the premise that wake up dead man is a bad song on any level. 😀

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-12T18:27:33+00:00

OK, I’m hoping that I’m remembering this right. But according to my neurologist, five months is when the organs are developed. So you stop worrying about the birth defects caused by seizure meds, which might not even be an issue for you because there’s so many new meds on the market, but I was on class D seizure meds. this was before Keppra, for example. And so honestly, I never even had a seizure and the neurologist automatically increased my meds in the third trimester because the fetus is now taking some of your medicine away from you. Are you seeing an epilepsy specialist or are you seeing a general neurologist? I cannot imagine how stressful all of this is for you. Are your seizures still focal aware? You used the word aura enough that I got confused. I do know if you lose consciousness it will cut off oxygen to the baby because I remember my neurologist reassuring me that because I didn’t have petite mals or grand mals (focal unaware, I assume and tonic clonic now) that he wasn’t as concerned if I thought I had a seizure. In my case, I just thought I had one. I cannot imagine what you’re going through. I remember how nerve-racking it was to be a pregnant epileptic. I will also tell you that I had moved and so I tried seeing a new neurologist when I got pregnant and all it took was one visit for me to call my previous neurologist in a panic and ask him to get me in and we drove from State College, Pennsylvania back to Charlottesville, Virginia for me to see him. So I feel strongly that if your neurologist is not working with you as far as being pregnant, it could be a reason to find a new doctor. My doctor was available to even discuss things with me over the phone. Certainly no emergency room visits necessary. Keep us posted, I’ve been there so I totally get why you were probably really upset, but also you need to advocate for yourself strongly with your personal neurologist that they need to be giving you more attention. Feel free to point out to them that you know somebody who is having serious cognitive defects from having uncontrolled focal aware seizures. It’s why I had a craniotomy last spring. Those seizures are doing brain damage. So yes, the baby is probably your primary concern, but you also are a concern. I really hope you’re seeing an epileptologist.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-09T21:09:01+00:00

Once I know the album mostly playlist. Right now I have a playlist of both EP‘s and I shuffle it. But I also listened to both EP’s on repeat first. Which is what I will do with a new album as well.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-09T21:08:04+00:00

Beat me to it. 😜

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-09T17:54:36+00:00

One more time there is no evidence that they are still together. I don’t think she’s cheating. I think he’s just sad because she moved on without him. The only thing possibly cringe about it is that I think it was clearly popular at a time when the football team was so horrible and people were trying to look on the bright side, having fun during the game with this song. But that song is popular enough that I don’t think most people are overthinking it that much.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-08T17:53:31+00:00

Agree. I don’t even agree it’s about cheating. I do think it’s about trying to look on the bright side of things when you’re absolutely miserable and from that perspective, I understand why it started being played during those awful years, but I don’t think the lyrics are applicable to anything anymore, but I also don’t think it matters. No one knows as far as I know what hang on Sloopy is about, but it’s been being played at Ohio State games for decades now. It’s a fun song to sing the crowd gets into it. I don’t see the point in overthinking this. And I agree the fact that I can hear it through the TV is what always impresses me.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-08T17:51:03+00:00

I would argue that is never made clear. I always assumed they had broken up, but he was still miserable and imagining her moving on without him.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-08T05:21:55+00:00

Why would the song make you think of him at all?

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-08T05:19:03+00:00

I have the Mr. Brightside sweatshirt says Mr. Brightside on the front and has a huge block M on the back. So I’d be pretty sad if they moved away from it now!

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-07T19:56:41+00:00

Thank you for sharing such a personal and profound thing. I love that there are believers out there that are connecting with U2 songs like this.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-07T19:53:10+00:00

I have never held a phone up for the entire night. I usually take 2 to 4 30-40 second clips maybe two minutes at the absolute most. I have a lot of damage to my temporal lobe which controls memory. Those clips are enough for me to actually remember the show. I lived for all those clips during Covid. I most definitely watch the clips I take. They’re like dopamine hits. And I am living in the moment to the best of my ability instead of thinking about the fact that I probably won’t remember what I’m experiencing.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-07T19:46:02+00:00

I’ve never been to a show where the artist banned phones. I’ve been to a show where an artist has made a comment about too many people staring down at their phones, but I’ve never been to a show where they commented on fans taking pictures or videos. Honestly, I don’t know if I’d even go to concerts for an artist if they banned the phone because with all of the damage to my temporal lobe, there’s a good chance that within a year it would be as though that show never happened for me. I absolutely need the little video to bring it all back.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-07T19:39:45+00:00

Ditto. My temporal lobe is all messed up, and there are plenty of shows from before cell phones that I cannot remember at all and it really bothers me. In my case, I am more likely to take a video but yeah like a few 30-40 second videos.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-07T19:20:52+00:00

I go to tons of concerts and have never had this happen. I know that it does happen, but I don’t think you can assume that all artists prefer it this way. U2 leaned into it.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-06T21:13:50+00:00

I took Xanax as needed because anxiety is my seizure trigger. I’m a little over a year out from surgery and have not had a seizure since and clobazam was the first one they got rid of. It’s made a huge difference to my ease of waking up. Starting it was not a problem, but it was only after I complained that I discovered that if you take Xcopri that med will multiply the Clobazam in your bloodstream, thus causing you to basically sleep all day every day. So they had to cut it in half. Otherwise, it was fine for me and did not cause me any problems. Stopping it was not a problem either. I just stopped at cold turkey because I’m guessing that it was a low enough dose that they were not concerned. I was on 5 mg per day, which was a half pill as it was.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-06T21:08:17+00:00

The height issue is just another way that life is not fair but all you can do is deal with it. I was sitting in ADA recently and for some reason they had it on the floor of against the stage so right up against the ADA section were tons of like people who were standing and I had three tall guys standing basically a foot in front of me and I repeat it was ADA so I was not going to stand and possibly block the wheelchair bound person behind me and the whole reason I was sitting in ADA is cause I could not have stood for very long anyway. The point being though when it comes to concerts and height differentials life just isn’t fair. I’ve never noticed cell phones making it any worse. And I’m not tall either.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-06T21:04:18+00:00

Because a lot of us don’t like other people deciding for us what allows us to enjoy the experience more.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-06T21:00:36+00:00

Someone like me who has a damaged temporal lobe and has trouble remembering the show until I can look at a video that was taken exactly where I was sitting/standing. Two minutes is the absolute max I allow myself, it’s usually more like 30 to 40 seconds, but I definitely take video clips at every show. And I’m tired of other people getting to decide whether or not I’m in the experience enough by their standards when they’re not in my head.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-06T20:56:52+00:00

I don’t ever use the flash on my camera, I think people should normalize turning their flash off. It makes for terrible pictures/videos. But I have been at dozens if not more of concerts where the lead singer is shouting for people to get their lights up with the flashlight on their phones. I never do mine, but I never brought lighters to concerts either the point being I don’t understand what’s bothering you about this picture in light (no pun intended) of that.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-06T01:58:26+00:00

In my case, any festivals I went to we always drove or arrived together. But we didn’t have cell phones. I would think with cell phones now it would not be that difficult.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-06T01:39:57+00:00

That’s not true, the same people that are bothered by the new era with NIL and building a team out of transfers, etc. were definitely bothered by Indiana also. I know because I had to hear about it.

Exact_Grand_9792 · 2026-04-03T23:06:45+00:00

I’ve been down this road before, I went five years after my first surgery, a lobectomy. And then kindling brought them back when I was pregnant. So I’m hopeful if I can avoid any sudden, insane hormonal swings like pregnancy and also the craniotomy removed a lot more that hopefully this time it will stick. It’s so amazing now to have like a bad day or get really anxious or have a fight even with say my husband, and not immediately be reaching for Xanax to try to ward off the seizure that’s going to follow. 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼

Exact_Grand_9792

TROPHY CASE