Can we pretend that airplanes In the night sky are like shooting stars?

If you like hybrid genre music including rap and singer/songwriters (which I do), and you need a little uplift (uh, I do), you might like the song that has MADE MY DAY. It is called, "Airplanes" by B.O.B. featuring Hayley Williams from Paramore (and tell me again why I don't get sponsorships for my blog?)

Some lyrics:

"Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars
I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)"

This song is the bomb-diggity. In other news. An exploration...

Girl A

This week's task is a big one. I've had a couple of bad weeks around here. In fact, a lot of bloggies have been feelin' down, it seems. I blame the cold NE weather. I blame the so-called "lung drought," -yes, it's actually been called that (though not by my teams). I blame CF. Finishing another round in the hospital, and finishing home IVs including embolization plans and a "is my port ruined?" scare- I had it up to here with this whole little project we call, "The Transplant Journey." I was thinking it should be called, "The Transplant Hell Hole" or "The Transplant Transformation into Someone You Don't Recognize, Thinking Thoughts You Never Thought Before, and Looking Different Than You Ever Did, and Why Can't I Remember Anything? Time for a Nap." Which brings me to my point- this week's task: Remembering the ways in which that girl (up there), is the same as this girl (down there):

Girl B

And yes, I did choose to use the professional shot where for some reason I appear to be rolling around on the ground, which apparently in the theatre really conveys, "teaching artist"- also to annoy J-Prof^.

For the readers at home, you might be thinking, well duh, of course these are the same two people. Alas, it must be proven. Girl A has forgotten all sorts of things that Girl B used to love, believe in, do and enjoy. A list must be compiled and checked off. Girl B will not go down without a fight.

First task for Girl C: A Return to the Grocery Store. Some of my early blog readers may recall the horrifying Stop n Show Experiences in the summer of '09 and a repeat performance even over Christmas. Bravely, Girl C will go to the grocery store tomorrow, and report back.

My Tx Song List!

It's complete! My song list for Dr. CJet ^ to use during my tx surgery! I'm pretty decided on it, but whaddya think?!! Boston	Augustana
What A Good Boy	Barenaked Ladies
When I Fall	Barenaked Ladies
Wrap Your Arms around Me	Barenaked Ladies
You Will Be Waiting	Barenaked Ladies
And So It Goes	Billy Joel
I Gotta Feeling	Black Eyed Peas
twenty one	Corey Smith
Tennessee Line	Daughtry
#41	Dave Matthews Band
Stay (Wasting Time)	Dave Matthews Band
I'll Back You Up	Dave Matthews Band
Slow Motion	David Gray
Soul Meets Body	Death Cab For Cutie
Not Ready to Make Nice	Dixie Chicks
Swimming to the Other Side	Emma's Revolution
Rhiannon	Fleetwood Mac
No Woman, No Cry (L.P. Version)	Fugees
Falling Slowly	Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
If You Want Me	Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
When Your Mind's Made Up	Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
21 Guns	Green Day
For Good	Idina Menzel & Kristen Chenoweth
Hide and Seek	Imogen Heap
I'm Yours	Jason Mraz
Hallelujah	Jeff Buckley
Say	John Mayer
Read My Mind	The Killers
Paparazzi	Lady GaGa
Obsessed	Mariah Carey
How Far We've Come (Radio Version)	Matchbox Twenty
Last Beautiful Girl	Matchbox Twenty
Bright Lights	Matchbox Twenty
Kids	MGMT
Go Places	The New Pornographers
Young Folks	Peter Bjorn & John Feat. Victoria Bergsman
Hey There Delilah	Plain White T's
It Could Be Sweet	Portishead
Idioteque	Radiohead
Ever the Same	Rob Thomas
Two	Ryan Adams
Mary	Sarah McLachlan
Song for a Winter's Night	Sarah McLachlan
American Tune	Simon & Garfunkel
Make This Go On Forever	Snow Patrol
Set The Fire To The Third Bar	Snow Patrol Feat. Martha Wainwright
Act II: No One Is Alone	Stephen Sondheim
Already Gone	Sugarland
Baby Girl (2nd Version) [Remix]	Sugarland
Breakdown	Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Southern Accents	Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Stories We Can Tell	Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Moment of Surrender	U2
Moondance	Van Morrison
Tupelo Honey (2007 Remastered)	Van Morrison
Brown Eyed Girl (Single Version)	Van Morrison
It's a New Day	will.i.am
Fast Car (feat. Paul Simon)	Wyclef Jean

Top Ten Excuses Not To Exercise with CF (and why they are crap)

DISCLAIMERS: 1) I am not a doctor. At all. I have two degrees in the arts. Half the time I don't even believe in Western Medicine.

2) I am teaching young children this week. As a result, I do not use any bad language or even frown much all day. This leads me to swear a lot at night. I don't know why, but it's true. The below post has some cursin' in it.

Top Ten Excuses Not To Exercise with CF

1. I can't exercise on an empty stomach, and I haven't eaten something in at least . . . ten minutes.

2. I just ate so many calories, I can't exercise NOW! My tummy may start to hurt at any moment. I must lay down and wait for it to start.

3. I better not burn too many calories. I'm trying to gain weight. I will eat this treat instead of working out. All the better!

4. I will have more energy to exercise after my nap.

5. I walked around so much at work today. And that is extra hard for me, since my lungs are broken and all.

6. My oxygen is so low today, I can't exercise. It might kill me dead.

7. My oxygen is super great today, my lungs must be nice and open already! Good job, me. Time for a nap.

8.The gym has so many germs. I can't go there September through March.

9. It is lonely to work out alone at home. It depresses me to think of it. If I get depressed, that is surely bad for me, too, right?! I must avoid it and all its possible causes.

10. Remember that hemoptysis in 2005? That was horrible. Don't want that to happen again. Better not do anything too crazy, today, July 10, 2009. Better take some Vitamin K and take it easy.

If The Top Ten Reasons Not to Exercise with CF did not address your own reason, maybe your reason is more serious. More important. More personal. For this, See my post on REASON #11 .

Why These Excuses Are Crap

1. Eat a power bar and suck it up. You can eat all you want in just thirty minutes (or so.) If CFers avoiding doing things every time they felt a bizarro hunger pang, nothing would ever get done. Ever. The CF world would stop turning while we all ate a Snickers. Learn to pack some goddamn snacks already.

2. Thinking about possible things that can go wrong with your body in the future is not a good reason to not exercise, not take a job you want, not date a boy/girl, or just about anything. I mean, jeeez, worry about all the things that are CURRENTLY wrong with your body and leave the future to the psychics (at statcounter.com).

3. Exercise will make you super hungry. You will eat more calories than you burn away because you will be craving craving craving foods when you're done and the next day. If not, drink an Ensure/Boost/ScandiBLAH and once again, suck it up.

4. There is no actual evidence that napping leads to increased exercise. Sorry, folks. Exercising, however, will make you sleep better at night so you will be less inclined to feel like you really need a nap during the day.

5. While your lungs might be "broken," they are not yet broken down. You need to keep driving that "1980's bitchin' Camaro" set of lungs around the block. And around the block. And around the block. For at least 30 minutes.

6. If you know your oxygen SATurations are low, it means you monitor your SATs, which probably means you have supplemental oxygen. So crank that shit to 4L and get off your ass.

7. If your SATs are great today it probably means that you exercised yesterday. Wouldn't it be great to have great SATs tomorrow, too? Plus, the Demonic Yukkies in your lungs don't remember that you exercised yesterday. They go ahead and continue their mighty wrath ignoring your exercise goals. You must beat them down with the Vow of the Cardio. (more on this, the Vow, in upcoming posts.)

8. Okay okay okay. The gym has germs. You have choices: invest in a sturdy piece of home exercise equipment; take the workout outdoors (yikes!); rent some good cardio DVDs or start to TIVO the exercise channel; or get the f over it, sanitize your hands, and go to the gym. You must make a choice.

9. It is not really lonely to work out alone. You can cough up the Demonic Yukkies and look like shit and play Justin Timberlake, or Meatloaf, or whatever your secret workout music is. Without the damn earbuds.

10. Similar to answer 2 above, thinking about all of the things that have gone wrong with your body in the past is not a good reason to not exercise. Continue a reasonable level of worry over all the things that are surely CURRENTLY wrong with your body, which might even lead you to crave exercise, and leave the past in your Hello Kitty Diary.

If The Top Ten Reasons Not to Exercise with CF did not address your own reason, maybe your reason is more serious. More important. More personal. For this, See my post on REASON #11 .

Eminem: The Soundtrack of American Medicine AND good for lung capacity?*

A Humorous Look at Music, Medicine and Michael Phelps

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I know what you're thinking: Cystic Gal, what the h are you talking about? Em-in-em? What does a white rapper have to do with Cystic Fibrosis? Stay on message, CG. Stay on message.

One of the many things I have learned in the past two years, while tackling my fear of doctors (see future posts) (oh wait, you can't see the future, you can only see the past posts) (oh . . . CG scratches forehead, pondering . . .) . . .

One of the things I have learned in the past two years is that it helps me to detach myself from the medical experience as much as possible so that I can think clearly while experiencing it. I was told that these things could help: "trashy magazines" (i.e. ones that cover "Jon and Kate Plus 8," not ones with multiple x's in the titles); I-Pod tunage; texting my pals; Valium (see prior posts! There we go!); bring an IRL in real life pal; etc. Today I will cover the best one of these tactics found so far:

Medical I-Pod Tunage: CG's Advice

The key to finding a soundtrack for your personal medical experience is to name at least three emotional states that you commonly experience in the medical environment. Are you sad? Are you confused? Are you angry? Are you a smartie pants? Are you nervous?

Narrowing down your complex emotions may be the hardest part. After that, finding some sounds that match is pretty easy. Which brings me, your CG, to Eminem.

There is something about Eminem and his self-loathing yet self-aggrandizing adolescent bullshittery, set to the backdrop (usually) of both a serious bass sound and an 80's style electric guitar, that really suits my CF clinic experience. All this with rhyming and the occasional random country singer guest spot that none of us clearly understand.

Other musicians that do it for me: Guns N Roses; Greenday; The All-American Rejects; Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (actually, any Tom Petty time period); Pink, Snow Patrol; MGMT; Death Cab For Cutie; L'il Wayne

My sister, Cystic Lady, became particularly fond of Eminem herself during her transplant experience in 2003. She would listen to Eminem at pulmonary rehab, in the car to and fro, and around the house. She would listen to him so much that my own mother, who otherwise prefers Fleetwood Mac, now admits that she misses her Eminem days with my sister.

To summarize, in my brief blog-research and IRL experiences, I have come to know that Eminem is a common IPod favorite of transplant patients and Michael Phelps. What do we learn from this? Obviously, it only takes a little bit of simple math to prove an important, inspiring truth.

Michael Phelps = Freakishly Large Lung Capacity
Michael Phelps = Love for Eminem
therefore:
Love for Eminem = Good for Lung Capacity*

I'm no mathematician, but the facts are the facts people.
Be well, CG

Tomorrow's Topic: CG's Mission: A Work in Progress

*Obviously, I totally made this shit up people.