2010 Health
That sounds like a book title, doesn't it? :) Heh, maybe I *will* write that book someday.Actually, my womb started crying since 2009. And it cried a lot.
In April this year, I had a hysteroscopy and D&C to scrape the polyps from my uterus. They were non-cancerous, but the D&C didn't fix it for long. In October, the crying started again for almost two months and I started having almost-fainting spells. By Thanksgiving, my primary care doctor realized that I'm "really, really anemic."
I discussed options with my ob-gyn, but he highly recommended hysterectomy due to several factors:
- I am at a higher risk for cancer because (a) I have a family history of cancer, (b) I never had children, and (c) I am overweight and have other metabolic issues.
- Bleeding is one of the symptoms of cancer. If we stopped the bleeding in other ways (ablation or hormones), we would not have a clue if I developed cancer.
- I have hyperplasia, which meant that my body creates a lot of cells fast. If any of the cells became cancerous, it would grow faster due to the hyperplasia.
The hysterectomy is scheduled for January 10, 2011. It was originally scheduled for Dec 28, but I came home from California with a bad cold. Apparently, the anesthesiologist doesn't mind stuffed sinuses, but he will not do a surgery if the patient has a sore throat (I had an itchy throat).
I also found out that my ob-gyn decided that it would be better to give me an appendectomy, too, while he's inside my gut. Now, if he offered a free liposuction, I would have been much happier. But Thelma says I'll lose my pot belly afterwards, so I guess I'll get the equivalent of a liposuction anyway. *grins*
Dianne and Virginia have been gracious enough to offer help during this time. Dianne will drive me to the hospital, then I stay with Virginia for a couple of days until I can be on my own.
2010 Travel
I've had some travel this year too and will have more travel in early 2011.In April, I spent a week at Lake Tahoe and got snowed in and spent an extra day there. In December, I spent a week at Klamath Falls, Oregon and got snowed in and spent an extra day there. (Hmmm....)
After that Tahoe trip, I swung by the Bay Area to see family for a few days, then went on to Bend, OR to visit my youngest sister for a few days.
In July, my mom came to Washington State with her friend Christy and I got to see them while they were here. Then I drove Mom to Bend, OR so she could spend a week with my sister. Christy picked her up on the way back down to California a week later. My tire got punctured on my way back home and was helped by a stranger. Had to buy new tires since the ones I had were already cracking.
In August, Liway's 16-year-old swung by Seattle on his way to visit his sister in Utah, so I took him around to sightsee. He had a stopover in Seattle again on his way home to Japan.
In December, I spent four days in Philadelphia, PA for the kick-off meeting of the book marketing program. Then I came back home to do laundry, before driving down to Klamath Falls, OR. I was snowed in in Klamath Falls, so I had to stay another night, but I had to find a hotel on my own, since the resort was fully booked. The drive from Klamath Falls to I-5 as actually very nice. The roads were clear of snow, but I hit a lot of rain the farther south I got. Family celebrated Christmas on Dec 24. (We traditionally celebrate on Christmas Eve anyway), then I started driving back north on Christmas Day through pouring rain almost the entire time, and some snow on the pass. I stopped at Medford, OR overnight though, so I wouldn't be too tired.
In late January 2011, I was supposed to spend a week at an inn in Vancouver, BC. It's one of the expiring sets of points for my timeshare. But, since the surgery was postponed two weeks, I may not be well enough to go. I also have a lot of points expiring in 2011, so I'll be planning a big trip. Maybe in Europe, because I've never been there.
In March 2011, I'll be attending a Mensa regional gathering in Sacramento, CA, and I'm hoping I get a chance to speak about my book there. In June 2011, there's another Mensa gathering, but this one is nationwide and it will be in Portland. There's another Mensa convention focused on online gaming in March in Austin, TX, but I haven't decided yet if I would go to that one.
In June 2011, my nephew is graduating from high school, so I'll be back in the SF Bay Area then. And my cousin Edna is planning a mini-family reunion to coincide with that same weekend.
2010 Work
I've been doing less work inside Second Life this year because I'm laying the groundwork for a new venture that I will launch next year.I'm writing a book and I am working with a marketing company to help me take this to the bestseller list. I'm aiming for the New York Times bestseller list. The book is about virtual romances and it will be published under a pseudonym, which is the name of my primary Second Life persona. Not "Treasure Box", which most of you know about, but the more anonymous one: "Opal Lei". I have a portal for all my activities and businesses as Opal in http://www.opallei.com. While I focused on scripting and real-world business dealings as Treasure, I focused on artistic work and virtual world business dealings as Opal. However, Opal is also my personal account, so most of my virtual world friends and most of my romantic affairs are with her.
In a sense, this is my coming-out. A revelation of what I've been doing the past four and a half years, because the bulk of my virtual content creation and most of my volunteer work were with this anonymous persona. And if you discover her personal blog, I have to warn you that it may not sound like the Eleanor you know. :)
Well, it's a coming-out only to friends and family for now, because I still haven't decided if I want to publicly reveal the link between my real-life identity and that persona.
"Love, Like Dim Sum" and "Heart Gravel"
The book I'm writing will be titled, "Love, Like Dim Sum" and is targeted towards singles who are frustrated with the dating process or who have given up on dating. In it, I am proposing that we view each romantic encounter, not as another candidate in the search for The One, but as a dish to be savored for a brief time. Like dim sum. A little bit here, a little bit there, and pretty soon, you're satisfied. If you still wish to search for The One at that point, at least you're not so desperate anymore, because these mini-affairs would have filled some of your emotional needs, so you don't settle and rush into a committed relationship, only to file for divorce a few years later.
I am also proposing that the best environment for these "dim sum affairs" is in a virtual world for several reasons. One of those reasons is that, because of their anonymity, most people tend to reveal more about their inner selves. Our identities are not revealed but our core selves are. So, in virtual worlds, people get to know each other from the inside out, instead of from the outside in. And because we get to know the core of the person quickly, the relationship also gets deeper quickly, and any incompatibilities are exposed sooner.
In fact, I have a second book already planned which will be titled "Heart Gravel" based on a blog entry of the same title. This one would be a memoir of my virtual life, and, since I've been living in virtuality so long, it might end up being a trilogy.
Currently, the domains point to placeholder pages, but you can find them here:
www.LoveLikeDimSum.com
www.HeartGravel.com
I know that some of you might be disappointed about the topic of my books, because, well, you might be expecting I'd write about a more intellectual topic, like a technical topic or a business topic. But my goal is posterity, not intellectual snobbishness. Technical books become outdated quickly because of the nature of technology. Virtual businesses are the same because the virtual world is still in its infancy and will still be changing quickly. And if you look at the authors who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, they didn't write technical books or business books; they wrote human-interest stories, about the human struggle. That is why I'm writing my memoir. The technology may change, but the human aspect of it, the emotional aspect of it, is universal.
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