ADDENDUM the First:
Five hours later, I was sitting in the dark because a storm knocked the power out.

Advice from Nora Ephron

“You should eat delicious things while you can still eat them, go to wonderful places while you still can…”

“…be the heroine of your life, not the victim…”

So, as we all know, anti-depressants have many unique and interesting side-effects. Those side effects vary from person to person and even with dosage.

One of the side-effects I have with SSRIs is vivid dreams. Extremely vivid dreams. Typically, the dreams will ramp up when I have a dosage change, and then taper off. No big deal.

Well, back in February, we dropped the dosage of Zoloft I was taking. Just by 50mg–no big deal, I thought. Except, the vivid dreams started, and still haven’t stopped. And for me, vivid dreams can be… tiring. So sometimes I’ll wake up tired.

There is actually a bigger problem with this, in that, for me, being tired is a depression trigger. I know that I need 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, and if I get less than that–especially for several days in a row–I get depressed.

Knowing this, however, is a good thing. I don’t screw around with my sleep schedule, and have a regular routine I follow to help me sleep well. And when I started a bout of depression in the spring, I recognized I was over-tired, and a couple nights of taking Tylenol PM and sound sleep put things to rights. But that’s not a long-term solution, so the happy doctor and I have been trying to figure out what’s going on.

Yesterday, I got a blood test to check my thyroid. Results came back: perfectly normal. (Which I already suspected, since I have absolutely no other symptoms of thyroid dysfunction.)

So I’m in a bit of a catch-22: I’m tired, so that puts me on the edge of a bout of depression, but it’s possible that the anti-depressants are contributing to the exhaustion. I don’t want to go back up, because up is the max dosage, but there is no guarantee that that going back down will change anything.

This is because I couldn’t remember Tennessee Williams last weekend: Streetcar

Who ordered this? Can I refuse delivery? SEND IT BACK!

I don’t think this is any better…

The Library of Congress has a list called: Books That Shaped America.

Considering how eclectic my tastes are, I found myself unsurprised at how few of these I’ve read or attempted to read. (22/88 or 25%)
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I’ve always been fascinated by reflections: mirrors, lakes, puddles, you name it. I love the world I can see through these reflections, so like our own, but yet different.

Valley Falls had lots and lots of still water for catching reflections.

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Yup. There were some rhododendron blooming. I was shocked too.

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To Whom It May Concern:

Several events in the past couple months have brought me to the sad realization that I need to post this.

If you believe that you are morally superior to others simply because of your race, gender, religion, or sexuality, please un-friend me, remove me from your RSS feed, and basically never darken my door ever again.

Your possession of heterosexuality or a Y chromosome does not make you inherently better than anyone else, and if you think it does, I want nothing to do with you.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Michelle Klishis

Saturday, we went to Valley Falls State Park. We had a great hike on the Rocky Trail, however, it was steeper than I’d expected, and a little rough on my ankle.

But despite the lovely hike, what I liked best were walking along the falls.

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The Ultimate Science Fiction And Fantasy Showdown

1. Malcom Reynolds (Sorry Han)
2. Scooby Gang
3. Doctor Who (duh)
4. No opinion
5. Sherlock Holmes
6. Marvin the Paranoid Android (I’m so depressed)
7. No opinion
8. Sarah Connor (I love kick-ass chicks)
9. Starbuck
10. Luke (I can’t help it. Sorry.)
11. Daleks
12. Arthur Dent (How is that even a contest?)
13. As much as I want to say MULTI-PASS, I have to go with River Tam
14. Hermoine (that one was closer)
15. No opinion
16. Uhhh… Avengers?
17. TRICK QUESTION!

Yeah, that’s right. I’m hanging out at the hospital while my dad has surgery. So today’s word is: hernia

There are several virtual reading programs going on again this summer. For each, you can win prizes, but the individuals running the programs will be making donations to charities based upon how much you read.

And you can totally double dip!

Todd Wheeler’s Virtual Summer Reading Program

Janiece’s Second Annual Hot Chicks and Smart Men Dig Reading Summer Reading Program in Honor of Debby Faught

And you can always check out what I’m reading on my book blog. Also, I’m on Shelfari. Random Michelle, of course!