Category Archives: Uncategorized

Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up

October 26, 2015Economics, Home Care, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Nerd Bait, Science, Uncategorizedfatigue, health, sleepricky

This weekend, Longsufferinggirlfriendoftheblogbeth and I staged a wee karaoke party to celebrate, among other things, the first anniversary of my fortieth birthday.

An old man tries counting — “Carry the one, simplify for x…. Carrot! Is it carrot?!”

Hat tip to @Pab_Roberts for drawing my attention to the lovely fact that the word karaoke is a bimoraic clipped compound of the Japanese kara 空 “empty” and ōkesutora オーケストラ “orchestra”. We had great fun, and were glad that, that night, the clocks went back in Edinburgh (and the rest of Scotland and the other countries that comprise the islands known as Britain, and Ireland, too – Ed.).

This brought my attention to the issue of sleep and fatigue, which I’m surprised to find has rarely been discussed on the blog…. Continue reading Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up →

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Lovelace

September 21, 2015Comics, Death, Poetry, Science, UncategorizedAda Lovelace, George Eliot, Jane Austen, Lord Byronricky

In the wake of last week’s post about Post-Capitalism and cyberpunk (and sure, strokes) BBC Radio 4 embarked on its Digital Week. It seemed Britain’s talk station was forever teetering on the edge of a discussion about what the next generation of roboticisation would mean for us humans. But they never quite got there while I was listening. A bit like today’s news stories.

A good day to bury this one — AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

A good job, too. Because I don’t know about you, Dear Reader, but I’m not up to another socio-economic post today. However, Digital Week did throw up some gems….

[As always, you can catch the lighter flip-side of apoplectic.me in the apoplexy Tiny Letter here.]

Continue reading Lovelace →

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The Prof Pulls Back the Curtain

April 22, 2015Classical Music, Composed Music, Nerd Bait, Pop Music, Sci-fi, Science, UncategorizedApollo 21, Edinburgh International Science Festival, Illicit Inkricky

Hi, everyone. The Prof is back to pull back the curtain on genius once again. Here he is on the soundtrack for Illicit Ink‘s Apollo 21 at the Edinburgh International Science Festival – but being too modest to mention his star turn as Ground Control….

Hey Friends,

New music news! We have a chunk of somewhat more modern stuff from Nerd Bait!

Continue reading The Prof Pulls Back the Curtain →

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Damages

March 23, 2015Uncategorizedricky

If my in-patient speech therapist had ever asked me, ‘What is a “tower”?’ I would have said

A tower is a building that is taller than it is long or wide.

I think. It’s hard to say, from this perspective, what I would have said. I had just had a catastrophic brain injury.

Prince Charles resigned as a patron? Sign me up — Ce n’est past une tour

Continue reading Damages →

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24th Best Stroke Blog Ever

March 16, 2015Uncategorizedricky

In about 640 words, I’ll get onto something vaguely stroke-related. Bear with me. It’ll be a good exercise in maintaining attention. Better than listening to a therapist read a random paragraph about John Adams, then being asked to recall various of the recited facts.

Ian Wiki's alt-text: "A painted potrait of a man with greying hair, looking left." — John Adams was the 2nd president of the USA. People would often remark upon his likeness to Paul Giamatti – “I don’t see it myself,” others would say.

[More whimsy, about the same amount of #stroke – the Apoplexy Tiny Letter.] Continue reading 24th Best Stroke Blog Ever →

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Who’s Afraid Of…

February 24, 2015Fiction, Politics, Reviews, UncategorizedSimon de Beauvoir, The Chuckle Brothers, Virginia Woolfricky

Longsufferinggirlfriendoftheblogbeth and I went out to celebrate the birthday of one of my old undergraduate pals last weekend. He’s the last of the group, I think, the reach forty. He may have been presented with a Chuckle Brothers birthday cake, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a sobering experience.

Deh do doe, don't deh, doh? — …and a card signed by Ian Rush and John Aldridge!

[The Chuckle Brothers say,
“If you’ve not signed up for the apoplectic Tiny Letter, you’re missing out!”] Continue reading Who’s Afraid Of… →

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OutRun

February 9, 2015Edinburgh, Healthcare, Rehab, Stroke, UncategorizedKenny Rogers, Left Shark, Sega, Take Thatricky

As hashed over ad nauseam on this blog, there are different types of time. Newtonian time. Relative time. And of course, NFL time. Where 3 hours, 12 minutes = 11 minutes.

"Also, where's Craigie?" — “And that’s why this doofus didn’t have time to learn his moves….”

But one rarely reads about Astley Ainslie time. Y’see, I went to the Astley Ainslie Hospital for a driving assessment last week. When I first checked in with my GP upon my return to Edinburgh in 2013, she told me that due to my stroke, I’d have to take a driving assessment test before resuming driving.

[“What are these weird conversations below the line?”
“Sign up for the apoplectic Tiny Letter and find out.”]

Continue reading OutRun →

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The Opiate Of Memory

May 12, 2014Books, Poetry, Science, Stroke, Uncategorizedricky

A couple of weeks ago, I attended one of the monthly workshops run by the Scottish Poetry Library. The previous month we had spoken about how effective the evocation of tastes and smells can be in poetry, so for this session our leader had brought along a thin metal case full of small sample vials of Penhaligon’s scents. We were each invited to take a vial, smell the scent, and let it guide our production.

[Aside — it doesn't work] — Bonus scratch’n’sniff apoplectic.me — it really works!

Continue reading →

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The Collaborative Blog Project

March 31, 2014Uncategorizedricky

I recently asked some stroke bloggers, friends and creative types to join me in a co-operative wee endeavour. The request was that

each of us write a piece on the theme of “Collaboration”. As short as you like (even just a couple of sentences). But no more than, say, 300 words. From whatever angle you like.

Why, yes. Yes you are. — “I’m killing your brain like a poisonous mushroom.”

Continue reading The Collaborative Blog Project →

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Do Not Adjust Your Set

March 3, 2014Uncategorizedricky

Thanks for checking in, though. *smooch* — There is no post today. Normal service will be resumed on Monday, 10 March.

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Apoplectic Me

the scribblings of a bloke who had a stroke…

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up

Lovelace

The Prof Pulls Back the Curtain

Damages

24th Best Stroke Blog Ever

Who’s Afraid Of…

OutRun

The Opiate Of Memory

The Collaborative Blog Project

Do Not Adjust Your Set