I Only Whine Most of the Time.

I saw this on Invisible Illness Week and thought it was a fantastic idea.

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

1. The illness I live with is: Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2003 - December

3. But I had symptoms since: 2002 - November

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: pacing myself all the time; I always have to weigh cost and benefit of an activity, even if it's something as simple as taking a shower.

5. Most people assume: I'm a little bit achy.

6. The hardest part about mornings are: dragging myself out of bed, especially when I hurt, and it's cold, which makes the pain worse.

7. My favorite medical TV show is: House, MD

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My netbook! I love it so much already.

9. The hardest part about nights are: Falling asleep, especially when I'm in pain.

10. Each day I take about 20 pills & vitamins. (Many are the same type, however)

11. Regarding alternative treatments I: am open to ones which have at least some scientifically proven merit, such as acupuncture.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: invisible, probably. At least I have the option of pretending to be normal.

13. Regarding working and career: I have had my dreams and desires slowed, but not taken away; I am years behind where I expected to be, and I had to give up a part-time job this summer, but I still feel I will eventually make it as a psychologist.

14. People would be surprised to know: how much my illness can vary--one day, I can go for a forty minute walk, and the next, have trouble even making it around the house.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: that I am limited. I am accustomed to getting what I want if I'm willing to work for it, but with my illness, no matter how hard I work, I cannot overcome it, only decrease its severity (and at times, I can't even do that).

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: attend university full-time!

17. The commercials about my illness: are helpful in raising awareness, but understate its impact on life.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: horseback riding.

19. It was really hard to have to give up: the ability to move my body, freely, without pain.

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: knitting.

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: dance and run and shop until I dropped!

22. My illness has taught me: patience, compassion, and self-discipline.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: oh, I went for a run yesterday and I'm sooooooo sore!

24. But I love it when people: acknowledge that what I am dealing with just plain sucks.

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: currently non-existent.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: there is still life, even if it is severely modified. Talk to people who are also diagnosed. Laugh, even if it's at little things. Take the time to get to know what you can and can't do, and when you can push and when you can't. And every so often, recognise that you will hurt like hell if you do something, but do it anyway because you love it.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: I can cope with it, even when I'm in agony.

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: sit with me and help distract me from the worst of my pain with humour, stories, music--whatever she could think of.

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: even I sometimes forget I'm not the only one suffering, and make assumptions about others despite knowing how much the assumptions can hurt.

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: appreciated, and better understood! Thanks!

Damn you Central Nova and your fear of change! Damn you!

Hey Canadians:

go vote if you haven't already! But watch this first (yes it's the thing I posted the other day, but I promise, it's not about Degrassi, it's completely about politics, and absolutely hilarious but also depressing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRfvPQFi0ZE

VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!

(But not conservative.)

I don't care if you don't watch Degrassi, or don't have a clue who Mike Lobel is. This is so freaking awesome. Watch it (particularly Canadians). It's hilarious and it totally gets the point across.

Yeah, so I guess special bits are no longer private if you're in Oklahoma and wearing a skirt. See, when you wear a skirt in public, you don't have any expectation of privacy. Awesome!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337173,00.html

Long story short, a 34-year-old man stuck his camera up a sixteen-year-old's skirt, took pictures, and is getting off scott-free on peeping tom charges. Because she was in public, she has no expectation of privacy, according to the courts.

Pass it along. Make a big deal of it. The more stink, the better--it can only help.

Just a quick pimpage! I really like the theme of this community, and I don't know if I'll end up participating, but I think it's neat. So . . .

ficalbum_dtng

Go now, mmkay?

This came up when I was talking with Jackie. So, out of curiosity . . .

Poll #1091962 Janna
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

How do you pronounce Janna?

This is a public service announcement from the desk of Shannon!

As of November 1st, I have once again joined the insanity that is NaNoWriMo. I am, in fact, writing a sequel to NaNoWriMo 2005's Caution Tape, entitled Tripwire. If you're bored, or wish to stroke my fragile ego, you may read it at daimeerafic. Please be advised that all original entries are marked Friends Only and therefore you will need to be added in order to be able to read them.

This is the conclusion of your public service announcement.

Lalala!

Pictures coming soon, I promise. In the meantime, an awesome meme I snagged from Callie.

PICTURE MEME
Name up to three aspects of my life you want me to photograph. They can be specific (my bedroom), or not so specific (something red).

COMPUTER SPYING MEME
1. Comment with a request to see absolutely anything on my computer. My desktop, my documents, my bookmarks, my latest works in progress... absolutely whatever you are curious about. Request it.
2. I will respond with a screenshot of the very thing you request.

I don't know why I even bothered, but this site amused me. So, this is the turkey I roasted for y'all.

http://www.roastaturkey.com/#9b214d93

And I swear I did NOT rig it. I left it overnight and then took it out shortly after I got up. I couldn't help but laugh.

I know some of you will see Jenna's entry, but a lot of you don't know Jenna, so I'm posting it too.

Friday, December first is World AIDS day. Brystol-Myers Squibb, collaborating with the National AIDS Fund, has started a project called "Light to Unite." For every virtual candle lit, up to 100,000, they will donate one dollar toward research. It only takes a moment of your time, and you'll feel better for doing it. So go on, light a candle.

https://www.lighttounite.org/

I'm all inspired by the holiday_wishes community and so I'm trying to grant at least a few desires, one of which is to pimp a site!

So, go check out PhoenixFire Designs. The jewelry is beautiful and although I can't afford to buy anything right now, and don't have a way to do so online anyway, it's definitely worth checking out.

Hmm, maybe I'll update this with holiday wishes granted. That could be fun.

Yes, it's that time again. Time for Shannon to beg for more math help.

I understand stretches and transformations now, I'm pretty sure. I can figure out mapping rules--or at least I could until now. But now, I'm stuck.

I'm supposed to find the mapping rule to go from y = sin(x) to y = frac2/3 sin frac1/2x + 1 (using frac to represent a fraction). I'm aware that there are probably supposed to be parentheses but in the book, there are none. I don't even care about this question in particular, I just want to know what to do when dealing with the two fractions.

Now, I'm assuming that (x, y) -> (something x-1, y) but I can't figure out how to find the stretch. I've tried multiplying numbers and adding them but I can't seem to make sense of it, nor find the correct response.

I also created a table with the new values, but it didn't much help me:

x	y
0	1
90	1.47
180	1.67
270	1.47
360	1

and compared it to the original which, with the same values for x, ends up with y values of 0; 1; 0; -1; 0. I haven't been able to find any number that makes sense to me that accounts for the difference in the two tables.


I love you alllll.

Mmkay, so following the examples of certain other people, I created a writing LJ. I'll post fanfic, original fic, and possibly even essays there so I have a backup and people can read if they're bored.

If you'd like to be added, go to daimeerafic.

I'll be posting my NaNo there too, so if you want to read non-personal stuff from now on, that's where to go.  If you'd rather not, then don't head over.  Easy enough?

All entries longer than a few lines will be under a cut, so you don't have to worry about that.

Sound good?  Good.

I. Hate. Quadratic. Functions.

That said, if anyone can help, I'll love them forever (and by help, I don't just mean solve it for me).

I have a question wherein a student is given points toward a prize based on academic average, number of extra-curricular activities, and hours of volunteering. If the student has a low number of points, their average tends to be lower, if they have a medium amount, it tends to be higher, and if they have too many, it lowers again.

I used a matrix to find a, b, and c (although I'm not positive it is correct because when I substitute my values into the third equation, it doesn't work properly).

The values are:

Kelli - 14 points, 78 average
Meaghan - 32 points, 92 average
Ben - 65 points, 85 average

My equation (using an inverse matrix to multiply the values for average to solve for a, b, and c) is y = -0.019x^2 + 1.671x + 58.416.

Now, the fun part comes when it asks:


Quote:


What is the highest academic average that would be predicted with this quadratic function?


And this is where I'm totally stuck.

Anyone know more than I do? Please?

http://community.livejournal.com/sickhumour/profile
http://community.livejournal.com/sickhumour/profile
http://community.livejournal.com/sickhumour/profile
http://community.livejournal.com/sickhumour/profile
http://community.livejournal.com/sickhumour/profile

Join, yo. Please? But only if you're sick and shit. Er, stuff. And feel free to pimp for me 'cause that would rock too.

First off, I love you all very much. The compliments are always lovely ego boosts, and I don't thank people enough for commenting. So, thanks!

Surprisingly enough, I'm still at a good place in life. I'm relatively content, and I'm doing things. I finished my computer exercises on Saturday, got the exam today and am almost finished it--just have to do the final question which is a simple program. Then (assuming I pass, which I should) I'll have that credit and only need... seven more. It's do-able.

Next up is work on the rest of my life. I have my school work motivation, next is to get to a place where I can function, if not lead a totally normal life. So, my next goal is to be more consistant with the exercise, etc.

I was in bed early (well, by my standards) last night, and it was bothering me that I have a tendency to make a resolution, and then abandon it. And I remembered back when I was starving myself, and how I had a bracelet that I wore all the time to remind me of my goals. So I thought, for the sake of sanity, and maybe a bit of healing, I'd make another bracelet--one to remind me of what I want, and whot I've got to lose, and that I might not be healthy, but that if I try, I can be healthier.

It was very cathartic, you know? Bead after bead, thinking about what I want from life and how I'm going to get there and how I'm going to avoid another year of sitting around and hating what I've been dealt. And now I have it to remind me--remind me to keep working, keep exercising (in moderation) and keep TRYING.

I still have the occasional thoughts of, "what's the point, we're all going to die anyway," but I'm getting better at ignoring them and pretending they don't exist, which probably is a bad idea for many things, but not in this case.

I miss the barn. I miss hanging out all day and pitching hay and turning out horses and riding them and cleaning tack and grooming and even mucking. I miss being awake in the early morning on a summer day and the calm and quiet broken by the occasional nicker. I miss the smells, the cats, the people. And I want that back. Maybe I can't have it to the same extent as before, but I want whatever I can get. I want to use my saddle. I want to just be able to hang out. Maybe it'll never happen--maybe I'll never be strong enough--but I know that the summer after I got sick, I did it all. And maybe that means I can do it again.

Anywho. Here's hoping this LASTS. I never thought the schoolwork resolve would (hey, at least I'm honest), but it has so far and I'm determined for this to go my way, too.

~Shannon

Damn you, Eva! I needed that head.

April Fool
amazing_hash	enlists you in the French Foreign Legion.
amoral_instinct	legally changes your name to MoonBeam Cappa.
ashkarita	trims your hedge into a replica of the Venus de Milo.
evablue	sells your head on Ebay.
fionnabhair_ii	shaves your cat.
hookers__	paints your dog orange.
kat_nano	glues your kidneys to your bedroom ceiling.
laurelann06	eggs your car.
moirariordan	buys you a Russian Bride.
songbirdjc	TPs your house.
Prank Me

I was quite enjoying Lost tonight when, during a transation, the subtitles showed you're when it should have been your... At least, I'm 99% sure it happened. I was so stunned and it went by so quickly that maybe I misread it.

But I doubt it would have jumped out at me had it been correct.