As part of getting all the ducks lined up for my stay in the hospital, I'd appreciate your suggestions on what to take, what to plan for, what to read, and what to do while I'm there.
Jerry remembers his stay in the hospital after his heart valve surgery as being incredibly boring. The high points were when I played Scrabble with him (well, of course), and a low point was when he listened to "Glitter and be Gay" from Candide and it became an earworm that repeated itself endlessly through a very long night. After that I plan to take nothing but forgettable music along.
But what else? I want something to read that will keep me busy and my mind occupied but that won't challenge me too much (not too many plot twists or characters to keep straight). This is complicated by my being a speed-reader (literally. I once got a job teaching speed reading and went through their training just before the outfit went bankrupt), and even on painkillers I can get through thick books quickly.
But what else? Like taking Miles-the-grandson on a trip, I'd rather have too many toys than lie around whining, "Are we the-e-e-re yet?"
And a quick story from Jerry's surgery: we were in asking the last pre-op questions, and Jerry said, "So, doctor, how soon afterwards will I be able to -- "
He paused, the doctor looked over at me with a knowing smile, and Jerry continued, "Play the bassoon?"
Without missing a beat the doctor said, "Two weeks." But after the surgery, during rounds when all the residents follow the doctor in they'd check their notes and instead of identifying him as "the valve job" they'd mutter to each other, "Oh, yes, the bassoon player."
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a laptop. find out if the hospital will have a wireless network for you to latch onto. We will all be desperately waiting for all the news, of course. Oh yes, and you can find many amusing things on the web. One interesting feature is on Google Earth, where many major city streets are outlined in blue. It means you can virtually cruise the street and see the sights. WOuld be cool to see what cities are covered in this way.
books. Hmm. I'm going through the grocery store paperback racks these days. Jane Fallon's "Getting Rid of Matthew" was quite funny and easy to keep people straight. A romance and comedy. Helen is in love with a married man and wants him to leave his wife and family for her. And so he does. And he moves in with her. She quickly realizes that, well, she doesn't want him any more.
and an interesting thriller I just finished by William Kent Krueger, called Thunder Bay. A Cork O'Connor Mystery. I quite enjoyed that one as it played out in some areas I am quite familiar with. And it has geologists in it!
Just for fun I would grab and read a bunch of new authors I had never heard of. You may find a gem in there.
Oh, a good series. By Celestine Hitiura Vaite of Tahiti. The three books are Frangipani, Tiare and Breadfruit. Very refreshing and lovely and I would read them in sequence (which I forget what the sequence is). I realease all my books into the wild ( a la Bookcrossing.com) so don't have them anymore. I released the Kreuger one just today. Shoot.
But if you want ISBN just let me know and I can look them up.
Cheers!
Hi Lucie
I have some experience being in hospitals. I recommend getting easy to read, "popcorn" books. Some - like graphic novels (Persepolis is great), are very easy to read, but you should also consider books that you would never read because they are too terrible - like Andrew Greely or Nora Roberts. The advantage these books is that the plots are predictable, there is no character development and it doesn't matter whether you remember what you read last because the authors remind you over and over.
Also, bring a cd player and cds. Both music and books.
Finally, have people bring you food you like regardless of whether you can actually eat it. you can always feed it to your next guest, or to poor old Jerry who needs sustenance as well.
Keep up the pranayama. I'm doing tong lin for you all the time.
Lots of Love
I would go with escapist fare such as comic fantasy. I would recommend any of the works of Jasper Fforde; any of the three Mammoth Books of Comic Fantasy; Craig Shaw Gardner's trilogy which starts with A Malady of Magicks; or any works by Lord Dunsany, L. Frank Baum, or James Branch Cabell.
I heard you like sci-fi with women authors, The Host by Stephenie Meyer is really good. She is the on that wrote The "Twilight" series. Not if you have hard all the hype about her but, I am completely addicted to this series. It is probably a bit tiny-bopper for you but if you mindless, I highly recommend them!!!! (she has been compared to the next JK Rowlings)
My I-pod, some word puzzles and maybe magazines. Gum- if you like gum, I love it myself.
Good luck and you will be in our thougths and prayers.
We all will be in Utah this week for our annual germer reunion; so we will say a Russ Germer Family group prayer together on your behalf-Love you!
have you ever read anything by michael ruhlman? he's a non-fiction writer, mainly about food, but he's also written great stuff on other topics - one i just finished and loved called "HOUSE" - he and his wife bought an old house in cleveland and it's about the year of them fixing it up. great book. i love his style of writing.
also, have you ever read "Kitchen Confidential" by anthony bourdain? hilarious book.
also, not sure if you're into watching a TV series, but there are some really good ones you can rent. not sure what you like 'viewing-wise' but there are several to recommend from HBO, some from the BBC (Cranford comes to mind) and also the AMC series Mad Men.
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