Marc Valdez Weblog: 09/01/2024

Friday, September 06, 2024

"Titanic: The Musical" at the Lincoln Theatre Company

Rachel is here.

Wednesday, September 04, 2024

Closing a Cardiac Chapter

Today's visit to Dr. Xu, my cardiologist (and the busiest man in Sacramento), felt like the closing of a 6.5-year chapter in my life.

The cardiac chapter opened around Valentine's Day, 2018, on a visit to Albuquerque, NM. I felt unusually tired; just dog-tired. Albuquerque's cold February wind just blew right through me. I blamed a cold virus and the altitude for the fatigue. I returned to Sacramento and had trouble with Zumba and theater rehearsal.

It took several days before dizziness finally brought me to the doctor. I was quickly directed to Sutter Medical Center, where they diagnosed a heart attack, apparently brought on by asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (Afib) - a condition that can also easily cause strokes. It was hard to square something dangerous with the lack of pain.

Not everyone was sure about the diagnosis, however. One of the ER doctors said, "This looks just like a cocaine heart attack." "Really?," I replied. "Yes," he said. He pondered a bit and said, "So, just how much cocaine did you have?" (Even heart attacks are the grist for the humor mill, sometimes.)

Since 2018, I've been using drugs to (imperfectly) control the Afib. In May of this year, it became evident the drugs weren't working well-enough anymore, so on July 26th I had a catheter ablation procedure to fix the Afib.

The ablation procedure has a pretty-high failure rate, but so far it seems to be working well. I have worries about various possible failures, but there's apparently little reason to be worried. I mentioned Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) to Dr. Xu, which, according to my advanced medical research on the Internet, is associated with severe dilation of the right atrium, a condition I was diagnosed with. The nurse-practitioner tried to reassure me: "It's not just your right atrium; your left atrium is dilated too." Great! Dr. Xu said that SCD comes from a dilated ventricle, not a dilated atrium (which puts him at odds with the nether regions of the Internet, but oh well, he's the expert, as well as being the busiest man in Sacramento).

This visit felt like a definite end, for now anyway. Time to get myself out of here. I'm normal now. I'm now feeling nostalgic for this very-poorly but very-aptly-named place, Sutter Medical Center's Invasive Cardiology Clinic. Time to close this door. Maybe later I can tell war stories about all the cocaine I (never) had. Like the song says: "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."

My Neighborhood's Bias

In Republican years, my neighborhood precinct goes 88-12 for the Democrat. In Democratic years, my neighborhood precinct goes 90-10 for the Democrat. This feels like a 90-10 year.

Tunnels at Jack's Birthday Party

I Find Your Driving Highly Illogical

I've been watching lots of police chases on Facebook Reels. Talk about illogical driving!

Jamba Juice Mural

(Near Greenback and Sunrise)

Will Californians Tolerate This Situation For Long?

And so, the Red States want to run things in the United States, but they aren't bringing anything to the table. Do you think Californians are going to tolerate this situation for long?

Planet Doug

A lot like Planet Claire, but with more methane.

"Jersey Boys" at Music Circus - August 30, 2024

I got a call from Gabe. He had four tickets for "Jersey Boys" at Music Circus. Would I be interested? I scrambled to find takers at such short notice. Despite her busy schedule, Rachel was available, which was great. I wasn't able to get anyone for the other two tickets. though.

I found the opening of the show to be offputting. Apparently, "Oh, What a Night (December, 1963)" inspired a French rap hit in 2002. Opening the show with a French song confused me. The rest of the show was great, though, particularly when the hits started to become more familiar.

David Williams played second keyboard in the show's orchestra. I saw him at intermission. Good to see him again.

Here is my favorite song Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons ever sang. (Not surprisingly, it's the last, most-discofied hit they ever sang). This song was also the finale of the show.

This show is mostly a guys show, but there was a chorus of three women; one of whom was Sacramento's own Jessica Crouch. Jessie played Francine in the show. She has become a recognized player on Broadway. I was impressed hearing that Jessie won the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) Next Broadway Sensation contest in 2015. It's tough to win a contest against Broadway's best singers!

I was in "Carnival" with Jessie in 2002 at DMTC. She played the lead Lily when she was only fifteen years old. Actually, I didn't recognize her until the show was over - it's been 22 years, after all.

Here is Jessica Crouch singing "Last Midnight," from Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods."

Bringing Back The Oxford Comma

On the evening walk, Jasper insisted on stopping at Neighbor John’s house to see if his dog, Max, was home. No luck. I’m guessing they’re out touring the swing states.

Pineapple Juice

I was perusing the garden section at Target when a mysterious woman in sunglasses and Covid mask began pushing her shopping cart down the rather narrow aisle towards me and my shopping cart. It was pretty obvious to me there wasn’t enough room in the aisle for both shopping carts, but she advanced anyway and crashed into my cart.

A struggle ensued where she continued ramming my cart and eventually was able to force her way through, but in her haste to escape dropped a six-pack of small cans of pineapple juice on the floor. I picked up the cans, but she fled.

I took this incident as an omen. The Universe was telling me that I’m not drinking enough pineapple juice. So, despite not being on my shopping list, I purchased the six pack and took it home.