In “Buying A Used Wheelchair,” breaking my wheelchair and buying a new one on Craigslist, more record shopping, cooking borscht and getting accepted for publication.
Every week we order pizza from the place in town. On the day after, for lunch I eat cold pizza with Hoppin Hot Sauce on it. (Hoppin Hot Sauce jingle)
Those who say don’t know & who know don’t say
Subscribers get the selfie and the show notes e mailed to them, and I don’t know what they do with them
Record shopping
I went record shopping at Amoeba and it turned out to be a pretty good score:
I broke the arm off of my wheelchair, with a bang. The manufacturer was out of stock, but I needed to find a replacement. I got on my computer and I searched eBay and sfbay.craigslist.org. craigslist came through for me
Cooking While Disabled
We made borscht. For the second year in a row, we used this Serious Eats recipe for Hot Ukrainian Borscht (With Beets, Beef, Pork, and More)
Accepted
After an uninterrupted months-long streak of many rejections, a few different editors wrote me to let me know that my writing was accepted. All in all, a piece of microfiction (in this case, a story of exactly 50 words) and two poems. It’s very exciting to turn the corner on this project and move from submission to publication.
https://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/buying-a-used-wheelchair.jpg16001600Johnhttps://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/season-8-wtmwm-logo-1-1.pngJohn2024-03-05 10:22:002024-03-04 23:43:21Buying A Used Wheelchair
Welcome to “Can You Eat Blood?” the first episode after a break for a few weeks. I had trigeminal neuralgia face pain, so I took a a couple of weeks off. I think AI would say that these are bunch of unrelated thoughts.
Shout-outs
Shout out to the poet Joe Imwalle who called me to thank me for sending a link to his linktree while at the same time insinuating (correctly or not) that almost no one listens to my podcast.
Joe played guitar in my high school band and now he’s a published poet
Shout out to Jeremiah Jahnson who gave us a shout out on KFJC, Saturday morning at 8:30
We went on a date at Yonsei Handrolls because the movie was too long to do otherwise
What To Do
When you have MS people are alwaays sending you scholarly articles like this one
Caramelized shallots
Chicken and pasta with caramelized shallots
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is for 14 this year
Thanksgiving menu
5% salt
I wrote the sauerkraut recipe for the school recipe book
I can breathe again
The espresso machine is back
No Swap
We’re taking a break from the Booze-Only Yankee Swap this year
Face on the fritz
My face is bothering me due to the storms in the atmosphere
Unfortunately I couldn’t eat dinner with my family
I had a scrambled egg on some rice so it’s not like I’m dying
Turkey Brain
A week away and the Thanksgiving meal took over my mind
I hope that I will be in the clear and so I can enjoy eating the meal and not be in fear
I’m put in the meat order after trying to put it in back in October and they were like, “We’ll do it next week.” I’m either super early or coming in in the nick of time
Cool hipster shoes
The guy at the mobility shoe store asked me what kind of shoes I want and I said I was a hipster and I was cool and he said so you want dress shoes?
Too Much Blood
Jan hasn’t been able to smell anything since he was 18
Welcome to What’s The Matter With Me? Podcast Season 7. Episode 31, “God Of Thunder”
The provided text seems to be a collection of various unrelated topics and updates, including shoutouts, a fundraiser for KFJC, an art acquisition by SFMOMA, the outcome of a baseball game, discussions about tucking in a t-shirt, an exploration of self-sufficiency, cooking, and conversations about toxic behavior with your son.
ChatGPT
Shout Outs
Shoutouts to Rocky who dug the face tattoo idea
Remember to use the drawer.
Repeat: do not get a face tattoo, just a drawer full of scraps of paper with tattoo ideas written on them
Shouts out to Max Level, standing at the edge of an inky black ocean holding a torch aloft
Fundraiser is done
The KFJC fundraiser wrapped up bc we raised our operating budget for the coming year
I donated to fundraiser @ KFJC and got the artist shirt (pictured above)
Outsider Granted Entry
“SFMOMA’s investment marks a historic milestone in the contemporary art world,” said Ginger Shulick Porcella, Executive Director at Creative Growth Art Center. “It has been far too long that art institutions have ignored or underrecognized artists with disabilities. These talented creators can no longer be relegated to the category of ‘outsider artists’ as they firmly occupy the walls of museums worldwide.”
Diamondbacks lost the world series in five games to the Rangers
As promised, I now have an Adolis Garcia Rangers jersey on order for my son
Locked In With Deepak
Art School Job Prospects
The person who named cymbals had a really cool job
Do you think the hiring manager had other well qualified candidates?
Keep your shoes on
Tucking in a t-shirt in doesn’t make it look any more formal
If you are in my family, it makes you look like a pumpkin who thinks that a tucked in t-shirt is appropriate to wear to an event that it clearly is not
Otherwise, you wouldn’t tuck it in your silly t-shirt.
Everybody needs directions
Even Jesus Christ was not perfect
God of Thunder
I was the drummer from Def Leppard for Halloween
Tight reviews: one reviewer was 5’9″ 230 lbs “pretty sure my junk was showing”
The tights fit, and I don’t think my junk was showing
Exploration in Self-sufficiency
I took the kids to school by myself, picked them up, fed them, bath, and bedtime
So my wife could go to San Diego on a work trip
Green sauce for steak and vegetables
What we’re cooking now: grilled skirt steak with new potatoes & the real chimichurri
Talking to my son about the imagined bullies in middle school
Trying to introduce the concept that making fun of a adisabled person is a toxic behavior, and as he gets older it’s going to be important to see that clearly
https://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/God-Of-Thunder-1-2.jpg20482048Johnhttps://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/season-8-wtmwm-logo-1-1.pngJohn2023-11-07 18:24:422023-11-07 18:40:18God Of Thunder
Shout outs to the people who listen to every episode
Boom Roasted
We needed to order another Filter for the ice Maker and bang i did it
Trip to the Cathedral
This is a podcast about nothing because i’m from the Seinfeld era
Ritual Hazing Absent Father
I had Dad drink cucumber skin juice
He grimaced. and we laughed and pointed at him
First Detroit Based Art Gallery And Studio For Disabled Artists
Progressive Art Studio Collective (PASC), a program of Services to Enhance Potential, is seeking funding to complete the build out of our future Detroit Gallery and Studio in LANTERN.If PASC raises $50,000 by August 5, we will win a matching grant through MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places initiative.
https://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/chew-on-that-1.jpg20482048Johnhttps://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/season-8-wtmwm-logo-1-1.pngJohn2023-07-14 21:02:192023-07-14 21:41:20Chew On That
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Welcome to “Disability and Obscenity” on the What’s The Matter With Me? Podcast
Is disability obscene? Coverage of Michael J. Fox and Sen. Dianne Feinstein has me examining implicit connections between disability and obscenity.
People with advanced degrees can stomach the summary
Shout outs to Doctor Kathryn- she appreciates the summaries because they’re quick to read
Because she’s a doctor and they only get 15 minutes to do everything
Hah!
Finding humor in adversity makes it easier
Not Sick Anymore
Temperature report
24 Hour Meth Rave
Sonny Rollins met up with Sartre on his 1966 European tour
When he came back to New York City he could often be found at the jazz loft on the fifth floor at 89 East Broadway
The Emperor And The Caveman
I grilled a boneless ribeye, it came out perfect and it was a relief to eat it without the kids, who eat in opposing styles that are less than ideal in different ways
Navigating disability in public
Roosevelt remained paralyzed from the waist down and relied on a wheelchair and leg braces for mobility, which he took efforts to conceal in public.
https://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/disability-obscenity-feat.jpg20482048Johnhttps://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/season-8-wtmwm-logo-1-1.pngJohn2023-06-02 22:17:242023-06-02 22:17:32Disability and Obscenity
Welcome to “Five Nights of Sweating” on the What’s The Matter With Me? Podcast
A fever that doesn’t seem to want to go away; new music around the house; some terrible food. Maybe we can make the time pass quicker if we go to a grind core festival.
Is not wanted
I’ve got a fever that kept coming back
Word
What’s The Matter With Me? Podcast is sponsored by Hoppin Hot Sauce— it’s the best sauce in the world! hoppin hot sauce is on amazon so anyone can eat it with hash browns and and English muffin-egg sandwiches with or without cheese but definitely with Hoppin Hot Sauce
Feeling feverish
For the first 3 nights it was up around 102-103 F
In addition to Tylenol, I started taking Advil as a fever reducer, then I woke up covered in sweat with a normal temperature
Then the next day it would began again
I had an epiphany to drink Gatorade
Catching up with Sonny
Sonny Rollins has got a mohawk, where i’m at in Saxophone Colossus
At his shows, he came out with the cowboy hat, then he would take that off and had the mohawk underneath
Burnin’ Up
I sweat through the sheets for the 4th night in a row
Disgusting: I smelled like a case of unwashed grapefruit with a sour whiff of spoilage or maybe more than that
As if someone left me in the back hall, not in the fridge. by the dumpster near some unnamed liquid.
I need a clean up
New Music
New music rundown this week is pretty much from bandcamp bc that’s the only place I have been able to access recently
Welcome to “Multiplex and Talent Show” on the What’s The Matter With Me? Podcast
This week, I used my wheelchair to go to the multiplex in Dublin and the talent show in the auditorium at my children’s elementary school. The movie we saw was “Inside” with Willem Dafoe and the elementary school talent show had a few truly bizarre, fun memorable moments.. Using my wheelchair made it possible.
Spicy Nut and Pretzel Mix
Whipped up the David Lebovitz snack mix because our dinner guest brought an extra pie. I think you could say it was burnt, but it’s still so addictive that it didn’t matter – it all gets eaten every time
I heard the band Big Blood from South Portland, Maine on the radio during KFJC’s Female Takeover a marathon of music created by female artists – shout out to cousin Jimmy
The song I heard was “Reproduce and Get Dirty which is like a great summary of all living things. It has great slide guitar and a wonderful vocal melody that soars at times and is also more intimate other times
Shout out to Anjela the hair-cutter who told me she went to movies there when she was in high school
I went with Nami to the movie in my wheelchair. I like going to the multiplex in a wheelchair because multiplexes are big and huge and I don’t know if I’d be able to make it otherwise
We saw the movie Inside with William Defoe
It’s about an art burglar who gets trapped inside a smart house which more-or-less tortures him and features the destruction of millions of dollars worth of of art and furniture.
Kids Got Talent
I went to the children’s talent show in my wheelchair, but beforehand i emailed ahead of time to ask if they would save a space for me, which was no problem. they saved a space for me at the front of the room and a really sweet girl wearing a tap outfit helped me to get settled
There were great embarrassing song and dance routines, solo Hamilton, martial arts, gymnastic cartwheels I & II, Water Under The Bridge interpretive dances and SO much more. It was more interesting than I thought it would be.
My son told me he had a crush on a girl who did a gymnastic routine. When his mom asked why, he said it was because she “ran really fast”
“A pint is a pound the world around”
Only one thing left
subscribe to the whatsthematterwithme podcast and you’ll get a very fancy nice email version of the podcast every time a new episode comes out its very handsome be sure to click subscribe right at the top of the page, just a name and your email is all we need to get goin and then youll always get the selfie
https://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/multiplex-and-talent-show-scaled.jpg25602560Johnhttps://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/season-8-wtmwm-logo-1-1.pngJohn2023-03-21 22:21:132023-03-21 22:21:20Multiplex and Talent Show
I got in a car accident where I got rear ended, wasn’t injured and the insurers agreed that I was not at fault. This is a blender episode, with lots of little segments that all go in there.
Blender Episode
This episode contains lots of different segments, all going into the blender like fruit goes into the smoothie.. Stay tuned for lurid stories of rampaging young adults and their dangerous car accidents, but let’s start our blender episode back in the 1990s at Jamba Juice.
Juicy Tale
Do you go to Jamba Juice? My first thought was that I went there in the nineties, and that I don’t go there anymore.
Kind of like Noah’s Bagels, I feel like Jamba Juice belongs to the 90s the way Orange Julius belongs to the 80s
But I go there all the time because like El Pollo Loco, you can trust it, if you don’t trust anything, Jamba juice will feed me I get the peanut butter smoothie
Jamba Juice was originally called juice club
Began in San luis obispo in 1990
It was renamed in 1995.
In 1995, founder Kirk Perron swapped out Juice Club for Jamba Juice, which is a play on the African word, jama, which means “to celebrate.”
Music & Culture Festival
Like Carijama, the dormant Caribbean music and culture festival in Oakland’s Mosswood Park
Ended in violence every year 2001-4 after existing since 86
Making The Scends
I have been using lent as an excuse to go to the fried fish place in San Leandro on 14th street Scends
Masahiko Togashi was a jazz drummer who sustained a spinal injury in 1970.
After his injury, Togashi had a custom drum set adapted so he could play drums using only his hands
At Stacks, I found a copy of 1979s Togashi / Cherry / Haden “Session in Paris – Song of Soil” with a picture of Togashi in his wheelchair on the back, something I haven’t seen very often on a record, so I bought it right away.
Got a new walking stick made of carbon fiber, the old one was aluminum.
The weight difference is like picking up a twig vs. blade of grass
Creative Destruction
I was on vacation in Palm Springs, Calif., on Nov. 7, 2021, when I awoke with the cacophony of a dozen dial-up modems blaring inside my head. Confused and alarmed, I called out to a friend staying in the room next door and could hardly hear my own voice. When he responded, I heard almost nothing at all.
The reason for my sudden hearing loss and the persistent ringing in my ears wasn’t immediately obvious, to me or to the emergency room doctor who examined me that morning. I hadn’t stood too close to the speaker at a concert or hit my head in some traumatic accident. I simply had gone to sleep with my hearing intact and, come morning, it was gone.
My life since that day has been difficult to describe, though the words I return to most often are “disorienting” and “humbling.” I spent months shuffling from one medical specialist to the next for a battery of tests and treatments. I eventually started wearing hearing aids and learning American Sign Language. And, perhaps most challenging of all, I confronted a new identity — disabled — that often leaves me feeling vulnerable.
At first, I also felt very alone. No one hands you a guidebook when one of the fundamental senses on which you innately rely is revoked without warning. Even the most attentive physicians are primed to focus on your physical symptoms, not the upheaval that a sudden impairment brings to your personal and professional life, nor the erosion it causes to your sense of self.
Steven Overley, “I had decades to make peace with my sexuality. My disability is a different story.” NY Times Subscriber-only newsletter (EXCERPT)
Acquiring a disability feels like forced creative destruction
Steven Ozerkey was guest writer for Frank Bruni’s newsletter last week and shared his perspective on acquiring a disability
‘Eyesight Compromised. Could Go Blind’
There is virtue in stoicism, but there is also danger in what strong people can hide. His own situation has made him even more keen to understand the other whose public face contradicts a private suffering. He proposes that each person should have a sandwich board listing her pain and how she adapts: “Imagine that our hardships, our hurdles, our demons, our pain were spelled out for everyone around us to see.” Bruni’s sandwich board would read: “Eyesight compromised, could go blind.”
You ask, why announce your troubles? Doesn’t everyone have something? “Well, yes. Tell us anyway,” I think Bruni would reply. Maybe if we knew, we might slow down, turn and fumble toward each other. Perhaps, then I could say that you’re not alone, and I’m rooting for you, because I am.
Reading Min Jin Lee’s review of The Beauty Of Dusk by Frank Bruni, his account of impaired vision after suffering a stroke
AI Still Not Perfect
I asked openAI to summarize my podcast, and it said @johnleeclark hosted it, which isn’t true I host it. I appreciated the compartisom, and I’ll keep my eye on Clark, a DeafBlind poet.
Approach
By JOHN LEE CLARK
I spin around in the middle of the corridor. My cane taps against four elevator doors. I have pressed both the up and down buttons because there is a fifth elevator door. If I tried to tap all five I would come to closing doors too late. Let the fifth door open to a ghost. Let it be confused and close again.
Source: Poetry (December 2021)
RIP Judy Heumann
RIP Judy Heumann, who passed away on Saturday March 4, 2023 at 75 years old
She changed the way we think about disability, or the better. What an inspiration
Chimpanzeeing it
Since I got my teeth back I’m having to learn to use them to pull things into my mouth and not my lips. For the moment i’m kinda chimpanzeeing it
Shout outs
Shoutouts to Claude Hopper – congratulations on being awarded the Sal 9000 spot, Saturday mornings 6-9AM PST on 89.7FM kfjc.org. To get the ball rolling, I request Tapper Zukie
In the kitchen
Made a simplified meatloaf & cheesy polenta
Disabled Japan
In Japan for example, it isn’t said that, “I am hot.” Instead you might say “Heat, there is.” It’s a group culture, which ios different from the West, where we live in an individually-oriented culture. In light of this, I have to reorient myself and figure out for myself.
How to exist as a disabled person in Japan? Rather than saying, “I am a disabled person, and they will accommodate me.”
Youth Gone Wild
I got rear ended and although it wasn’t my fault (the guy in front showed down, then I showed down, then I got rear ended) by a 20 year old driving his parents BMW which sustained a lot of front end damage
The kid jumped out of the car, cursing, yelling. At himself, not me, but it’s freaky when people start doing that, because it feels like they could turn it on you att any moment. But it was cool. I was bigger than him and an adult.
I am always afraid when I get in a car accident that somehow it’s going to lead to me having my driver’s license taken away, because I’m disabled.
I thought back to the Positive experience I had in the Hayward DMV, And I thought to myself, “I am totally allowed to be here,” and it got me through
Subscribe to the What’s The Matter With Me? Podcast and you’ll get a very fancy nice email version of the podcast every time a new episode comes out, it’s very handsome, be sure to click subscribe right at the top of the page, just a name and your email is all we need to get goin and then you’ll always get the selfie
I went to the dentist, and he attached some teeth to the posts the periodontist implanted in my jaw. It’s been almost two years since I had buck teeth in my mouth, and it is a big change. I made a lot of squash soup, adapting the method for one hand, and I’ve included the recipe in this post.
Shout outs
Shout outs to Klaudhopper, who asked about Hoppin Hot Sauce stickers
Shout outs to Tall John who called me up after I tweeted about not going to Japan
Nami & kids are going to Japan in a couple of weeks. This time, I'm not coming with due to the no-inside shoes + AFO Brace/ wheelchair that i need to use to get around. Need to figure this one out, how to make it work – this time around, a lost opportunity. https://t.co/4qUwX38prj
I had infusion which is a really long slow injection
Roasted Squash Soup
Recipe by John Hoppin
Roasting winter squashes face up concentrates flavor, and using convection during the roast increases tasty browning reactions. Using an immersion blender makes it easier to puree using only one hand. We eat leftovers for lunch with a grilled cheese sandwich and Hoppin Hot Sauce.
Servings 8 Servings
Cooking Time 75 minutes
Ingredients
3lbs winter squash, cut in half, seeds taken out
4T unsalted butter
Yellow onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup
salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups stock
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F {or 325 if using convection).
Roast pumpkins until easily pierced with a fork, at least 1 hour. Let cool, then scoop out the flesh.
Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and once it is foamy, add the onion. Cook 5 minutes until soft.
Stir nutmeg & cinnamon into the onions. When the smell permeates the room, add the stock.
Add squash flesh, bring to a good simmer, stirring.
Remove from heat. Leave to steam for a couple of minutes.
Puree thoroughly with the immersion blender, using a stirring motion. Be extra-thorough to find any chunks of squash or onion that may be hiding under the surface.. It should be thick. I don’t do any extra sieving, so I want to take my time and be sure it is well-pureed.
Add maple syrup, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Sonny At Rikers
Sonny Rollins got 1-3 years for having a gun. He was searched without cause. In 1952 he was at Riker’s Island. He arranged hymns for a hip chaplain at the Protestant Mission House, and he was paroled September 11, 1952
Theme Song
The theme song candidate for this month is less jazz & more industrial
I am considering whether it might have lyrics, maybe it’ll sing the intro part
Tiny Tooth Wrench
When they reattached them, the radio played Lionel Richie’s 80-s smash hit “Hello”. Neither the dentist nor his assistant knew the song. Turned out that the dentist was born in 1987.
The dentist used a little mini Allen wrench to attach them to the bases. there was pressure, it made my eyes water
I have teeth now, so I ate Ramen and spaghetti for the first time since my bridge broke and took my front teeth with it in August 2021
My Gumbo History
Cousin Emily came over for gumbo on Saturday
I made gumbo at the Rockridge Fish in Market Hall in 2003-4
https://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/i-got-my-teeth-back-1-scaled.jpg25602560Johnhttps://whatsthematterwithme.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/season-8-wtmwm-logo-1-1.pngJohn2023-03-07 18:52:182023-03-07 19:00:54I Got My Teeth Back
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