Synesthesia

I have synesthesia. Synesthesia, according to the greatest resource of all time (wikipedia), "is a neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway."

For me, this means several different things. When I see numbers and letters, a color is strongly associated with them. An "A" for example, is a violet red, but with only a hint of the violet. I took a test by bbc and they gave certain colors options, and I couldn't find the color that most of the letters should be, so I was really frustrated. I might make an alphabet with all the right colors, because I get really annoyed with pictures or magnets with the wrong colors.

Some are more acceptable than others. An orange 5 is more acceptable than a blue 5, even though it really is yellow. I get really annoyed at blue As. I'm used to all of them being black, but sometimes I see the colors anyway, even if they are in black.

I also feel tastes. This one is the funnest, but hardest to articulate. How do you explain that cows milk tastes like a log on your molars but soy milk tastes like dipping your toe in a bath on the tip of your tongue? Or that cucumbers taste like a sharp wave on your upper gums but celery tastes like a firework on your tongue?

Most people look at my like I'm crazy but some people get it. To one of my friends, a certain soup tastes green but it should taste brown. Not everything has a strong feel to it. Chocolate, for example, feels like chocolate melting over my whole mouth. Popcorn feels vaguely like a glacier along my inner gums, but mostly I just taste the flavor of popcorn. Not so remarkable. Interestingly, tomatoes feel the same as chocolate but back farther in my mouth.

I taste the flavors too, and I can ignore the feeling just as much as I can ignore the flavor. The feel of vodka, for example, is fairly pleasant even though the taste is awful. Gin feels and tastes awful. It feels like there's a thin rubber layer inside my mouth and it's being pulled out from the back, inverting on itself.

Lastly, I can somewhat feel sounds. Like, I can feel a tingle along my middle back when I hear a violin playing, or a tingle in my upper abdomen when I hear a tuba. Usually it's more the tones and notes I hear than the instrument, but certain instruments I feel more strongly than others. People's voices do it, too. I have a professor whose voice tingles my lower ribs, and another who tingles my collarbone. I am not sure why, and usually my own pre-existing opinions determines if I like the feeling or not. For example, the upper abdomen tuba-induced tingling is usually because when there's tense music playing, I don't really feel happy (during a movie, for example), so that tingling usually makes me feel anxious, even when it's happy polka music.

Anyway, that is how synesthesia works in my body. I'm sure it's different for many people, and it will probably change over my lifetime. I remember when I was a kid, I would see the words that people said aloud, like it was typed in a book, but that doesn't happen anymore. Won't it be fun when the dementia starts when I'm old? Who knows what happens then?

Proper Post

I don't have to work tomorrow, so I can properly explain my awesome Pride and non-Prideful but still Pride Weekend where I worked all day.

I left my apartment Friday morning, laden with everything I needed for the weekend, plus a tent, 2 tote bags of St. Olaf Swag, and a sign. Then, I took the bus to downtown Minneapolis, and took the train to Anoka. I arrived about 3 minutes before a storm. Lucky me!

It was scary looking, and its weird to drive in pouring rain, but there was a poor, senseless man on a motorcycle. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and it was raining sheets. He was shielding his eyes from the rain and everything.

Anyway, I went to sleep in my bed at Mom's house, which hasn't been slept in for quite a while (this becomes important later, so remember that).

I got up at 6am, and caught the bus back to Minneapolis, taking everything with me, plus a collapsible chair for us to sit on. The bus driver let me ride the handicap ramp off the bus because my cart was heavy and burdensome. It was kinda fun. Luckily it was a Saturday morning and I was the only person on the bus, so I didn't slow down traffic at all.

Anyway, long story short, I set up the St. Olaf booth, and tabled most of the day, until 5ish, when Teddy came to join me so we could go see Ellis! It was actually a village people concert, but it started raining during the second group, Electric Avenue, so Teddy and I headed to the 90s instead after a couple songs by the third performer, CeCe Peniston. Seeing Ellis was great, though. I lurve her. We invited her to Olaf in October, so she'll be performing at some point that month. Excited!

Anyway, 90s. One of Teddy's friends has good connections, so we got front row seats reserved for the drag show. I love the 90s queens. They're so lively and awesome. Anyway, there were also $3 Bacardi cocktails, so I spent $6 on heaven. Dragonberry and 7up? Awesome. Razz and Sprite? Equally awesome!

So, at 2:30 am, Teddy and I headed back to Northfield. Bed at 3:30, up at 8:30 to shower and go to campus. I noticed as I got ready for bed a strange splotch on my upper thigh. I figured I just scratched myself somehow. The next morning I noticed another one underneath my bra strap by my collar bone. Must just be some skin irritation. I ignored it, and just went to campus.

You see, instead of going to the Pride Parade, I babysat during a wedding for a couple of Ole alums. Another girl and I hung out with 5 kids, ages 17months to 10 years. It was hard to keep them occupied, but apparently 10 year olds are into this thing called Club Penguin. It works. The 17 month old was really fussy, so she occupied herself by crying herself sick all over the other babysitter. Poor dear. At least we got paid $35 for the 2 hours.

After, I went to my first shift of work at Target. I cashiered for 4 hours, and I'm pretty good at it, if I may say so. After, I came home and crashed, dead tired. I noticed a few blotches on my shoulder before I went to bed. Weird. Oh well, right?

I got up this morning for Day 2 of work, and my shoulder and back were covered in red splotchy welts. So I made an appointment for after work (which went well. Theres a lot to remember for salesfloor, but I'm sure I'll get it right eventually). My doctor examined the bumps for a while, in awe over this weird rash.

We eventually decided it was probably some sort of bug bites that my body was not reacting well too. Most likely spiders (you know, from my bed at Moms which I haven't slept in for quite some time? Told you that you should remember it!). So, she wrote me a prescription for a stronger allergy medicine than Target-brand Claritin, and told me to pick up some hydrocortizone for the itching. So far, my sinuses are really clear, but thats the only difference.

Anyway, the lesson learned from this weekend: (1) Pride is awesome, even with rain. (2) Sleep is important. (3) Keep your room clean and spider-free!

Thank you to those who came before!

So, today, I went to my doctors to get my quad-annual injection of progesterone.

I just want to say thank you do the men who invented birth control and the women who pushed for its FDA approval, and the men in the FDA who approved it, and all the men and women and others who have kept it legal and readily available. And Medica Elect for providing progesterone injections for $20 (as opposed to Blue Cross Blue Shield, who make it available for $80, which is still nice but 4 times less so than my previous insurance provider).

Dear Pharmaceutical companies,

Even though you are generally exploitive asswipes, I do appreciate your service in my life, even though it is almost entirely driven by greed. By providing chemicals to inject into my body, you prevent countless pounds from being gained, dozens of zit from forming, a heart attack or two in the future, and needless tears from being shed. Also, thanks for disclosing the fact that this injection will probably cause bone-loss, so that I may take supplements to replenish the calcium I lose. I'd have osteoporosis when I am older if it weren't for your cooperation with the FDA.

Thanks,

A pleased but jaded customer.

Good News!

1) I saw Ellis (a fantastic musician and Ole alum) perform this evening. Always amazing.

2) I just baked 100+ cupcakes in a giant oven!

3) Meredith the chicken is home! She was roosting on my neighbors deck! She's alive! : D Happy!

4) I get paid tomorrow!

5) I've lost 1 pants size since coming back to school. I mean, I'm not obsessive over my weight (I have actually gained pounds since coming back, according to the doc's scale), but I like being healthy, and since I've lost inches but not weight, I'm taking that as a sign of being healthy.