sigh; escapism
Dec. 12th, 2007 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alonewiththemoonAlthough the doctor had said it would be fine to go to dance class after my cortisone shot, I have come to the conclusion that it really wasn't fine at all. I got off to a bad start by having to deal with very crowded trains, standing room only, and standing at odd uncomfortable angles at that. I also got socked in the gut with somebody's duffel bag. So my body was a mass of tension when I arrived in class, and I had missed the warm up. It didn't take long for my foot and knee to both start screeching at me, and I felt like all my other nerve endings had been wrapped in cotton so that really the pain was all that I was feeling, and the rest of my body wouldn't do anything I asked of it. I think cortisone shots must have a greater systemic effect than one is lead to believe. I also started feeling pretty nauseous partway through class. I struggled through, managed not to burst into tears of frustration, went home and iced everything.
Today is strange. Sometimes my foot feels fine and other times I can't put much weight on it. I am starting to think that the inflammation of my flesh was the only thing providing any padding to the irritated nerve and bones and that maybe reducing the swelling wasn't such a great idea. My knee, oddly enough, is doing pretty well. Maybe the release in some of the muscle tension in my foot is already providing some relief to my knee. I did walk to the train station this morning and I think it did me some good to be flexing and working the various muscles.
By coincidence, I ran into my mom on the train this morning. I learned from her that all the women in her family have problems with their toes curling under from too much tension in the feet. Her mom's toes actually went back under her feet, which makes my feet shudder to even think about. I don't know whether it's truly genetic, or whether this just reflects a general female willingness to wear hurtful shoes; I'm sure those years spent wearing high heeled pointy toed boots did not do me any favors in the long run, no matter how much pain I was willing to put up with for fashion at the time. At any rate, at least it gives me some small consolation that it's not a matter of dance hurting me. If anything, dancing is bringing out issues that would have affected me later in life, but at a time/age when I'm more able to change and heal the problems.
On a very positive note, I looked up the physical therapist to whom I have been assigned, and discovered he specializes in disorders of the feet and ankles. That is comforting to know.
I watched the movie The Most Terrible Time in My Life, a Japanese homage to French New Wave and classic film noir, last night. The Netflix capsule description is misleading; it's not farce at all. I don't know if there is a name for this genre or not, but I have noticed that there is a sort of Japanese (and occasionally other Asian) film which you could perhaps describe as comedic tragedy (but not tragic comedy), where yes there is occasional slapstick and silly one-liners, but overall the story is a serious one with moral overtones about where being a bad person will get you. In Western film the slapstick and joking would be a distraction that undermines the film, but it seems to be part of the filmic convention for this genre and doesn't detract from the humanity of tragedy and loss. Anyway, The Most Terrible Time in My Life was, I thought, a skillful blending of this genre with French New Wave. It's about a PI named Maiku Hama (i.e. Mike Hammer, of course) who out of the goodness of his heart gets mixed up way over his head in yakuza/Chinese gang rivalries. It takes place in a mythologized time which is sort of the 1940s, sort of the 1980s and sort of now. I liked the terribly meta conceit of locating Maiku Hama's office above a movie theatre, the flickering lights from the screen rendering every scene there literally right out of a movie. It's not a perfect film, but I liked it enough that I'll watch the sequel(s).
Today is strange. Sometimes my foot feels fine and other times I can't put much weight on it. I am starting to think that the inflammation of my flesh was the only thing providing any padding to the irritated nerve and bones and that maybe reducing the swelling wasn't such a great idea. My knee, oddly enough, is doing pretty well. Maybe the release in some of the muscle tension in my foot is already providing some relief to my knee. I did walk to the train station this morning and I think it did me some good to be flexing and working the various muscles.
By coincidence, I ran into my mom on the train this morning. I learned from her that all the women in her family have problems with their toes curling under from too much tension in the feet. Her mom's toes actually went back under her feet, which makes my feet shudder to even think about. I don't know whether it's truly genetic, or whether this just reflects a general female willingness to wear hurtful shoes; I'm sure those years spent wearing high heeled pointy toed boots did not do me any favors in the long run, no matter how much pain I was willing to put up with for fashion at the time. At any rate, at least it gives me some small consolation that it's not a matter of dance hurting me. If anything, dancing is bringing out issues that would have affected me later in life, but at a time/age when I'm more able to change and heal the problems.
On a very positive note, I looked up the physical therapist to whom I have been assigned, and discovered he specializes in disorders of the feet and ankles. That is comforting to know.
I watched the movie The Most Terrible Time in My Life, a Japanese homage to French New Wave and classic film noir, last night. The Netflix capsule description is misleading; it's not farce at all. I don't know if there is a name for this genre or not, but I have noticed that there is a sort of Japanese (and occasionally other Asian) film which you could perhaps describe as comedic tragedy (but not tragic comedy), where yes there is occasional slapstick and silly one-liners, but overall the story is a serious one with moral overtones about where being a bad person will get you. In Western film the slapstick and joking would be a distraction that undermines the film, but it seems to be part of the filmic convention for this genre and doesn't detract from the humanity of tragedy and loss. Anyway, The Most Terrible Time in My Life was, I thought, a skillful blending of this genre with French New Wave. It's about a PI named Maiku Hama (i.e. Mike Hammer, of course) who out of the goodness of his heart gets mixed up way over his head in yakuza/Chinese gang rivalries. It takes place in a mythologized time which is sort of the 1940s, sort of the 1980s and sort of now. I liked the terribly meta conceit of locating Maiku Hama's office above a movie theatre, the flickering lights from the screen rendering every scene there literally right out of a movie. It's not a perfect film, but I liked it enough that I'll watch the sequel(s).
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 04:53 pm (UTC)Hmm...intersting movie. I wonder if it's in Netflix. I'll take a lookie.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 05:10 pm (UTC)I've managed to avoid the bunions my mom & sister have, which have disfigured both of their feet (my mom had surgery for hers). But I think part of their issues are due to too small feet -- size 5-6 -- which end up in ill-fitting shoes. I've had similar issues finding the right shoes for my feet, but also have the resources to spend longer looking for them. I keep my fancy shoes for short distances, and live in my comfortable ones day to day.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear dance is not the cause of your troubles, and may perhaps help you avoid problems later on.