ProfessorTomoe

Gazpacho Soup!!!

I'm trying to get CD Baby to set up Ereis Overture for play through their distribution network of streaming services and other outlets (e.g., Amazon, etc.). I thought I'd entered all the details properly when I paid for the Pro Distribution package, but not so. I got a kickback letter from their inspection team yesterday, saying that the performing artist name (Lee Jackson) and songwriter/composer name (Dennis Lee Jackson, my ASCAP account name) for a Classical release must match exactly. They wanted me to change the artist name to my full name, rework the single artwork to include my full name, and so on. I did not want to release Ereis Overture under the name Dennis Lee Jackson. Who TF has heard of him? So, I did an end run around CD Baby and called ASCAP to find out if I could use Lee Jackson as a composer name. Turns out I can, with a little bit of account number prestidigitation. I therefore went back to CD Baby, registered the name Lee Jackson as a new songwriter/composer on my account (it cost me $10 to do so), and changed the composer name on the song to Lee Jackson. Blyeah, CD Baby. Big middle finger up at you. Kick this back from your inspection queue. Watch 'em do it anyway, just out of spite.

The test they ran on me is supposed to differentiate between carpal tunnel, elbow nerve trouble, back nerve symptoms, and everything in between. It was quite comprehensive. I'll find out tomorrow exactly how comprehensive it was.

I thought that was given. For some nerves. This will uncover all.

I had an EMG (Electromyography) run on me yesterday at the spine doctor's office on my left and right sides (upper). Quite a pain - hurt like the dickens at times. It's supposed to show the doctor where exactly my nerves are being pinched/cut off/whatever so he can plan for back surgery if necessary on me. I had some zones that didn't react to the shock at all, while others kicked like a pissed-off mule. That, and I've still got red welts on me from the acupuncture needle. All in all, it wasn't a fun experience.

What if he choked to death while trying to swallow his MyPillow during a bad Left Wing dream one night? Would someone still cry foul because it was stuffed with feathers?

They are outstanding in his field of vision.

This guy makes good lenses. He's using VariLux, Crizal, hell, the whole shooting match on them. That, and my prescription isn't an easy one to match (nearsighted one eye, bad astigmatic in the other).

I got some good news yesterday from the Optical place. I won't have to be blind for a week! The guy fixed my frames, cleaned up my lenses (but left the scratches in place), then took a $400 order for new lenses. He said I could wear what I've got, scratches and all, until the new lenses come in, at which point he'd swap them out in about a 15 minute operation. It's still going to take a week to get them, so I'm taking a sabbatical from Facebook and a few other places for that time (it's hard enough to see through the scratches). However, I'll be online here in at least some capacity. They might put in some artificial discs, depending on what the situation is. I think it's more likely that they'll remove bone, though.

Thankfully, I'm not in that situation. My spine bones are overgrown and are cutting into my nerves. An operation to widen the gap, one way or another, is usually what's called for.

I'm sorry to hear this. Did your doctor have any suggestions on how to increase your fluid intake, other than just "drink more water?"

I don't want a "break." They X-rayed me and CAT scanned me and didn't find any breaks. I consider myself lucky in that arena. My *glasses* caught a "break." I'm going to hand them over at Oculens Optical in Garland today to get them fixed. See you after I get them back.

Here's what I looked like after getting treated in the ER. Note the scratches on the right eyeglass lens.

* sigh * As if I needed anything else to happen to me. I spent Saturday afternoon in a Level 1 trauma ER. Why? Because I slipped on black ice on my backyard patio and landed on my face, and because the paramedics who responded freaked out because I take Eliquis (a blood thinner). Allow me to explain. We had a hard freeze Saturday night. During the day, I heard water running outside, so i put on my shoes, grabbed my cane, and stepped out back to investigate. I didn't make it one step out on the concrete patio before I lost my footing and started falling face first. I landed on 1) my right knee, 2) my right wrist, 3) the 4th and 5th fingers of my hands, and 4) the right side of my face. I drew blood from each location. My glasses cushioned my fall - they wound up bent and scratched all to hell. I'm going to have to have them replaced, so as of Monday I'm going to be offline for a week or so, most likely. I wasn't able to get up on my own, so I called out for help a few times. No response. I gave up on that, forced myself up on my injured hands and knees, and crawled over the threshold and back inside. There I collapsed for a while, then dragged myself on the floor to my cell phone where I called 911 (actually, I had Google call 911 for me - I couldn't focus on the number pad through my screwed up glasses). Five EMS personnel showed up and argued with me about going to the hospital. They were insistent that I go, saying that I might have a cranial hemorrhage worst case. I gave in and went. I was kind of glad I did, because once the adrenaline wore off, the pain kicked in. I was given fentanyl, but it didn't help. They eventually gave me a milligram of Dilaudid, which did help. They took X-rays of my knee, lower leg, and hands, and did CT scans of my shoulders, neck, and head. All came back negative for new damage (of course, they showed what my other doctors had been reporting - bad knee, bad spine, etc.). So, with that, they cleaned up and dressed my wounds and discharged me to a pissed off Mrs. Prof. I am now banned from going outside without supervision.

Thank you for the kind words on Ant Farm Melee and Ereis Overture! I do appreciate it. No worries about not checking in - your own issues are more important, naturally. I'm just glad you're listening to it in the first place!

I have submitted Ereis Overture to the CD Baby service as a Pro Distribution single. That means that not only will it get distributed to Amazon and all of the streaming services you can probably imagine, but it will also get registered with my ASCAP catalog. It's still in the "inspection" stage right now, so I'm waiting for them to spit it out into the public before I can register it with the Copyright Office (I need an ISRC number, which comes at the end of inspection). Once it passes inspection, I'll post a page where you can track it on the streaming services.

blep

ditto Thank you.

How about your hiking socks?

I don't believe it. I was reading last year's results, which were taken at almost the same date and time. This year's results were much more favorable. My glucose was 89 - damned good. No protein problem, but my kidney function tests were still a bit high (around 2437). The doctor didn't make any changes to my meds. He just wants me to come back in 6 months. In other news, I had a back procedure done yesterday to try and mitigate the foraminal narrowing nerve pain I've been having since last month. They injected my spinal nerves with anesthetics and steroids on both sides around the C5-C6 and C6-C7 foraminal openings. Early results: my left side is numb and tingling, and I've had the occasional pain twinge. On the right, I'm still having pain above where they injected me. I got a call from the surgical center today - they were checking up on me post-op. I told them what I just said, and they said I should give things a week. I'm not very hopeful. As it stands now, I'm looking at full-blown spine surgery to correct the situation on both sides. I'll find out when I see the spine surgeon on the 10th.

VENI, VIDI, SEDI

Yeah, I get that. I have no mailing lists, though, and I can't believe that many people have me bookmarked and just happened to check me on Friday.

It's been 48 hours since I released Ereis Overture, and the statistics are not good. Sales are bad: there have been 7 purchases on Bandcamp totaling $21 (some people have been paying way more than the suggested $1 retail price per copy, which I do appreciate). On the playback side of things, 172 people have streamed Ereis Overture on Bandcamp, but only 31 of those people listened all the way through to the end. Thirty-seven people quit before they even heard 10% of the song. As far as visits to my leejackson1.bandcamp.com page go, there have been 272 since release day on Friday, with 135 coming from "Direct (bookmarks, instant messages, etc.)." I have no idea what they're referring to with that statistic. In second place is Blue's News, with 46 visits coming from a news story posted on that site. Third place goes to Facebook, with 36 people coming from links posted there. (I'm a bit shocked that Blue's News topped Facebook.) If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can cast a wider net, please post them. As the Ferengi would say, I'm all ears.

A new challenger appears: my kidney doctor! He's been prescribing my high blood pressure medicine, despite the fact that I've never even seen the guy. Suddenly, he says no refills without at least a telephone appointment and lab tests. Meh. So, I go get blood drawn and give urine. The lab results hit my inbox today. A few abnormal results show up. First, my glucose is a bit high at 128, but there's no A1C taken to see what my average glucose has been. My last 6 A1C results have been 5.4 or lower, so I don't know what to think. But, now I'm throwing creatinine and protein into my urine, and I'm ever-so-slightly anemic. (I don't remember my protein numbers, but my creatinine number is something like 2400 (should be 2000 or less)). My phone appointment is Monday at 3pm Central. Fingers crossed that I don't have to start taking even more medicines.

Yeah, Ereis is not a pun. I don't know what it is. A neologism? An inside joke? Whatever. Mrs. Prof said it sounded cool, so that's why I stuck with it. Speaking of how it sounds, the pronunciation of Ereis is as follows: eh-RAY-ehs. That's what Mrs. Prof liked so much. When I got paid by the client, BTW, I got a big "congratulations" from her, saying that she recognized it was a big project. I thanked her for the kind words.