On March 18th of 2009, I became a Cyborg Sapien. Back then, I didn't update this blog very often, so I didn't post about it here. I did over on my MySpace, but about a week ago, I deleted my profile there because I rarely used it anymore. (no worries, I actually did save my blogs in a file before the deletion).
But I have a story related to the Cyborg Assimilation and my upcoming two-year follow-up appointment. My two-year checkup is next Thursday. And since I haven't had any knee-related problems in the last two years, I won't have to go back to see him ever again. Unless, of course, I have any problems. But I don't have any follow-ups ever again.
A few days ago, I did a silly video for a website where I answered some questions, interview-style, about my knee-replacement. Things about how bad I was before, how I decided to get the surgery (I didn't, actually), and how good things are now. And even though the fibro slowed down my recovery (which I did mention in the video), my knee is fantastic. And because of that knee-replacement, I am doing things I couldn't do before. And despite this fibro slowing things down, I'll be back to the person I was before all this fell on top of me.
One of those things I'm doing now is the photography. I've sold some prints and one of my photos is even hanging in the Denny's in South Beloit, IL. (and they sought me out- they contacted me about using my photo!). I decided that since this will be my last time seeing Doc Bones (as I lovingly referred to him in my blogs), I would give him one of my "fine art" photos. But which one? I've taken thousands of photos (not an exaggeration) in the last twelve months. I checked through everything I had (it took a few days) and I chose three of my favorites. Then I asked Ceej (my seventeen year old daughter) which one she thought I should give him.
Now, I know I could have gotten a triptych frame and given him all three photos, but triptych frames are huge and I didn't want to overwhelm him with a big ol' awkwardly-shaped frame. (plus, most of the triptych frames I've found are plastic and modern-looking).
So, out of the three, this is the photo she chose:
![One of my favorites from today]()
And there's a story behind it. Back in December, we had a huge storm. Well, the rest of the Midwest had a huge storm. By the time it got here, we barely got any snow. We had loads of wind (oh, so much wind!) and bitter cold temps. But not nearly as much snow as everyone else. You all might recall the storm that caused the Metrodome's roof to collapse. My friend who lives up that way said they got about twenty-five inches of snow from that storm alone. But we didn't.
What we did get, along with those bitter temps and high winds, was an amazing sunset and ice. As soon as I saw that the sunset was going to be good (just enough clouds to create the colors and such), I headed out to my usual spot. There's a school on the outskirts of town, up on a hill, with a cornfield and a line of trees between the car park and the horizon. Great location for sunset photos and I'm not stuck on the side of the road and in danger of being hit by a car. (and no farm folk stop to ask if I'm okay- which has happened twice to me, in two different places, while photographing the sunset). This day, though, I got there a little early. And since I didn't want to just sit in my truck and wait for the sun to drop, I threw my camera into macro mode and took photos of the leaf-less shrubbery and ice around the edge of the car park. And I got some amazing shots. (such as the one above- which was my favorite shot from that day).
To get these shots, I had to step into the snowbank and the plowed-up snow on the edge of the car park. I stepped in and sank, of course. Two more steps, leaning over, my weight mostly on my left leg as I contorted myself to reach out with the camera for the macro shots. In fact, the photo above, I was standing with my left knee (the cyborg knee) slightly bent, leaning forward onto that leg, with my right leg extended behind me. I was leaning forward, holding my camera in my gloveless hand (remember the wind?) at arm's length and I snapped the shot. Then I had to wade back to the flat and plowed area of the car park.
And if I had not gone through that total knee replacement, I wouldn't have been able to do that or get that shot. I wouldn't have been able to stand outside in the sub-zero temps (with even more sub-wind chills) and take all the photos of the ice, the shrubbery, the sunset. And I wouldn't be sharing my talent with the world.
I wrote about this day in my Fibromyalgia blog. ~~clickety-click~~
I think Doc Bones should get to see what he's unleashed on the world.
But I have a story related to the Cyborg Assimilation and my upcoming two-year follow-up appointment. My two-year checkup is next Thursday. And since I haven't had any knee-related problems in the last two years, I won't have to go back to see him ever again. Unless, of course, I have any problems. But I don't have any follow-ups ever again.
A few days ago, I did a silly video for a website where I answered some questions, interview-style, about my knee-replacement. Things about how bad I was before, how I decided to get the surgery (I didn't, actually), and how good things are now. And even though the fibro slowed down my recovery (which I did mention in the video), my knee is fantastic. And because of that knee-replacement, I am doing things I couldn't do before. And despite this fibro slowing things down, I'll be back to the person I was before all this fell on top of me.
One of those things I'm doing now is the photography. I've sold some prints and one of my photos is even hanging in the Denny's in South Beloit, IL. (and they sought me out- they contacted me about using my photo!). I decided that since this will be my last time seeing Doc Bones (as I lovingly referred to him in my blogs), I would give him one of my "fine art" photos. But which one? I've taken thousands of photos (not an exaggeration) in the last twelve months. I checked through everything I had (it took a few days) and I chose three of my favorites. Then I asked Ceej (my seventeen year old daughter) which one she thought I should give him.
Now, I know I could have gotten a triptych frame and given him all three photos, but triptych frames are huge and I didn't want to overwhelm him with a big ol' awkwardly-shaped frame. (plus, most of the triptych frames I've found are plastic and modern-looking).
So, out of the three, this is the photo she chose:
And there's a story behind it. Back in December, we had a huge storm. Well, the rest of the Midwest had a huge storm. By the time it got here, we barely got any snow. We had loads of wind (oh, so much wind!) and bitter cold temps. But not nearly as much snow as everyone else. You all might recall the storm that caused the Metrodome's roof to collapse. My friend who lives up that way said they got about twenty-five inches of snow from that storm alone. But we didn't.
What we did get, along with those bitter temps and high winds, was an amazing sunset and ice. As soon as I saw that the sunset was going to be good (just enough clouds to create the colors and such), I headed out to my usual spot. There's a school on the outskirts of town, up on a hill, with a cornfield and a line of trees between the car park and the horizon. Great location for sunset photos and I'm not stuck on the side of the road and in danger of being hit by a car. (and no farm folk stop to ask if I'm okay- which has happened twice to me, in two different places, while photographing the sunset). This day, though, I got there a little early. And since I didn't want to just sit in my truck and wait for the sun to drop, I threw my camera into macro mode and took photos of the leaf-less shrubbery and ice around the edge of the car park. And I got some amazing shots. (such as the one above- which was my favorite shot from that day).
To get these shots, I had to step into the snowbank and the plowed-up snow on the edge of the car park. I stepped in and sank, of course. Two more steps, leaning over, my weight mostly on my left leg as I contorted myself to reach out with the camera for the macro shots. In fact, the photo above, I was standing with my left knee (the cyborg knee) slightly bent, leaning forward onto that leg, with my right leg extended behind me. I was leaning forward, holding my camera in my gloveless hand (remember the wind?) at arm's length and I snapped the shot. Then I had to wade back to the flat and plowed area of the car park.
And if I had not gone through that total knee replacement, I wouldn't have been able to do that or get that shot. I wouldn't have been able to stand outside in the sub-zero temps (with even more sub-wind chills) and take all the photos of the ice, the shrubbery, the sunset. And I wouldn't be sharing my talent with the world.
I wrote about this day in my Fibromyalgia blog. ~~clickety-click~~
I think Doc Bones should get to see what he's unleashed on the world.