Had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon for my six week followup. I am now free of my brace, but still on some severe activity restrictions. He said that such an injury can take 10 month to heal, and he does not want any kind of strengthening exercises at this point. He thinks that is six months away, and in the interim I am to work on range of motion and avoid any kind of pushing with that arm. I am optimistic that I will be able to shorten those time frames a bit, but still plan on playing it safe.

My range of motion is shown above, and it is just a bit more than 90 degrees at this point. Still can’t reach my face, and I look forward very much to the day that I can again feed myself with my right hand! That will be the next milestone of note.

Circus Couture (CC) is an annual circus/fashion show/art auction benefiting the Children’s Speciality Center of Nevada, a clinic that provides care and treatment for children suffering from pediatric cancer whether or not they have insurance. On Friday 10/7/2016 the seventh iteration of CC took the stage at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with the goal of surpassing the million dollar mark for cumulative donations.

Circus Couture is the brainchild, or perhaps a more apt description would be “heartchild”, of Erica Linz, a self-described “actorbat” formerly based in Las Vegas and currently likely to be found just about anywhere in the world. CC grew from Erica’s early individual fund raising efforts under the banner of the St. St. Baldrick’s Foundation , to her recruitment of others to participate in St. Baldrick’s events as the Cirque do SoBald team, and finally culminating in the extravaganza now known as Circus Couture.

Erica is very high on my list of “Remarkable People I Know”. In addition to being a gifted acrobat and aerialist who was a featured performer for nine years in the Cirque du Soliel show KÀ, Erica also has the heart, the drive, and the magnetism that has drawn an ever-expanding cast of other remarkable folks into her orbit. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, Circus Couture has grown from humble beginnings into a most remarkable fund-raising machine. I too was drawn into that orbit four years ago when I met Erica at JJ’s Gym (aka, heaven for acrobats) in North Hollywood, and this year was my fourth time serving as one of the 200+ volunteers that make this show happen each year, an experience that I look forward to every year.

While the cast of performers in the circus portion of the show changes over from year to year, there is a larger core group of volunteers who come back year after year, many of whom put in countless hours between shows to pull this all together. My role in the production is to assist the lovely Ashley Sutherland-Winch (aka,An American in Macau) in the art auction setup.  When Ashley first became involved in CC she was living in Las Vegas, but last year relocated to Macau. That did not stop her from continuing to serve as a Circus Couture board member, recruiting local artists to donate art for the auction, cataloging all of the child art created by cancer patients, and returning from Macau to play a key role in the setup and execution of the art auction.You can find bios of Ashley and other board members and production staff here.

One of the very entertaining aspects of Circus Couture is the fashion show, and that portion enlists the efforts of a number of loyal local designers who are charged with creating whimsical designs based on some kind of an annual theme. One year, for example, they were required to use only cellophane, and the next year they had to work with balloons! This year the theme was Luck, both good and bad.

The real money-raiser, however, is the auction, and that portion involves several categories. First there are items or services donated by local businesses or individuals, like massage packages, resort stays, tickets to shows, wine collections, or various kinds of gift baskets. The big item in the online, silent portion was a  1963 Fender Stratocaster played by Jimi Hendrix. That item, unfortunately, did not attract any bids; I guess that the $650,000 opening bid was a bit too high for the attendees!

In terms of art, there are pieces that were created by local artists like Peter Lik, 3 Baad Sheep, Don Michael, Jr, to name just a few, and those artists have been contributing works for years. Then there are art pieces created by patients from the Children’s Center, and in that realm the champions are Barbara and Larry Domsky from Domsky Glass. The Domsky’s have been involved with CC from its inception, and each year they host an art party for the kids at their studio. The products of that party compose a large portion of the items in the silent auction.

This year something different was tried, and a number of the items in the silent auction were works that were created by local artists collaborating with children. There was one collaboration that was especially poignant, and that was the collaboration between the Domsky’s and the family of young Avery Driscoll. Avery was a 13 year old cancer patient who was at all the Circus Couture’s that I had attended, and at events before I got involved. Avery was the face of Circus Couture and was beloved by all, but she unfortunately lost her battle back in June.

The collaboration was a mixed media metal and stained glass tree. The Domsky’s created the metal trunk of the tree, and Driscoll family members created the leaves out of glass.  It was titled “Family Tree” and it was the last item auctioned off. The opening bid was $5000, and as auctioneer Christian Kolberg fished for a $7500 bid the audience was electrified by a bid from magician Criss Angel for $100,000! Mr. Angel then went on to tell how he had developed a very close relationship with Avery and her family. He then went on to 1) gift the sculpture to the Driscoll’s, 2) donate an ADDITIONAL $100,000 to Circus Couture, and 3) make an additional donation of $100,000 to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fund cancer research in honor of his two-year old son who is battling leukemia. I believe the word is mensch, and the total proceeds from the auction were over $154,000. Circus Couture has now raised over 1.25 million dollars!

Below is a video created for Circus Couture celebrating the too short life of Avery Driscoll…

 

 

On the last Friday of every month the Fox Coffee House hosts The Definitive Soapbox, an open mic/poetry slam. This Friday was the seventh anniversary show for the soapbox, and it was an epic evening. I would estimate that there were well over 100 people packed into the Fox, and the joint was buzzing with excitement well before the start of the show at 7 pm. Host Antonio PAZ1 Appling gave a little introduction and explained the format for the evening. There was full slate of performers signed up, and so each was limited to just one piece. The open mic segment would run from 7-9, and then from 9-9:30 there would be two featured acts, one a musical group and the second a performance by an established poet. That is the standard format for the event, and on this night the musical act was the duo The Black Noise (@blcknoise), and the poet was San Diego poet Rudy Francisco.

Most of the performances for the evening were spoken word, and there were a few musical acts as well. Most notable in the latter category was a young man from San Diego (and I apologize for not taking notes so I could adequately credit the participants) who did a beautiful acapella rendering of an original composition, and 11 year old Bethany. Bethany has been coming to TDS since its inception with her dad Jeff, and this was her first time on the mic; she did a song that she had written herself and accompanied herself on the ukulele. She was not the youngest participant, though, as host Antonio read a poem that had been composed by six year old Rowan, another up-and-comer in the soapbox world.

There were some incredibly powerful spoken word pieces, most dealing with very serious topics, including battles against depression, dealing with one’s own suicidal impulses or the suicides of friends and relatives, or grappling with gender identity. The mission statement of the TDS says that “We started our open mic SEVEN years ago with a goal of creating community and engaging hope around poetry in Long Beach”, and I they have done a wonderful job of doing that. There was an overwhelming feeling of love and mutual support in the room that provided a safe and embracing environment for all comers.

The strongest and most emotionally gripping pieces were those touching on matters relevant to the Black Lives Matter movement, and those voices were raised by both black and white individuals. I have friends and family members who seem somehow offended or threatened by the Black Lives Matter movement, as if it diminishes them in some way or as if the African-American community is making much ado about nothing. I would like very much for those folks to have the opportunity to visit events like this and see first-hand the testimony of those who are living under the shadow of the ugly racism that has always permeated our society and seems to be raising its ugly head even higher now. Let them hear black women mourning the loss of their black brothers and expressing the fear that they feel every time their sons venture out into the world. Let them hear the crippling anxiety felt by young black men when that police car slows as it approaches them and the relief they feel if that car passes them by without stopping.

At promptly 9 pm the show moved into the featured artist segment, and first up was the duo The Black Noise, consisting of Victor Ujagudhele on guitar and vocals and Donovan Brown on vocals. They played an outstanding set, combining the spare instrumentation provided by Victor’s virtuoso guitar work with the rhythmic vocals of both member. They too are in a period of recovery as back in August all of their equipment was stolen. They have a GoFundMe page that is currently active and accepting donations so they can afford to replace their gear, and anyone who is inclined to help out can donate at The Black Noise Recovery page.

 

Last, but certainly not least, was San Diego based poet Rudy Francisco. On his web page I see that “As an artist, Rudy Francisco combines activism and poetry to enlighten the minds of those who witness his performance. Rudy eloquently absorbs the experiences of those around him, synthesizes them and converts their stories into poetry. Furthermore, Rudy has made conscious efforts to cultivate young poets and expose the youth to the genre of Spoken Word Poetry…” Rudy performed several pieces, and my favorite was his last, his “Honest” poem, which once again provided a portrait of what it is like to be a young black man in an often hostile environment.

 

Yesterday I started my day with about 90 minutes of lower body and core stretching and strengthening, and then the 1.7 mile walk to Steelhead. I spent the morning at Steelhead writing my blog post about Sunday’s open house at Flow LBC. Just after noon I ventured out into the 100+ degree heat to catch the #71 bus heading downtown via Orange and Alamitos. I love the bus system here! They have a messaging system that lets you know quite accurately what time the bus is due, and as far as I am concerned that takes all the pain out of using the bus.

My destination was the East Village, specifically Berlin Bistro. Jessica (aka, @nowheregurll), one of my favorites from the Fox Coffee House, is now working there and had highly recommended it, so my plan was to kill two birds with one stone by visiting the Berlin while she was on duty.  Berlin is located on 4th St between Elm and Linden. It occupies the northeast corner of the same building that houses Fingerprints Music, and there is an easy flow between coffee shop and record shop that enhances the atmospheres of both establishments. The food did not disappoint. I ordered a main dish, Shrimp & Grits, that was both very creative and very good. I am hitting myself in the head right now for not getting out my phone and taking some pictures for a decent blog entry; I will do better next time!

From the Berlin Bistro I shuffled the two blocks to 4th and Atlantic to catch the #61 bus up Atlantic for my appointment at the Memorial Orthopaedic Surgery Group. Shuffled quite literally as the temperature by that time was 105, and joined a small group huddled in the shade of an abandoned gas station waiting for the bus. The bus stop at the other end was right on the doorstep of the MOSG, and I arrived at 2:40 for my 2:45 appointment. The waiting room was full, and I spent a lot of time waiting, first in the waiting room, and then in the examination room. The nurse cut off the splint, the doctor came in, took a look, and then told the nurse to fit me with a brace allowing zero to 30 degrees of flexion. When she came back with the brace, though, she set it for 20 degrees, telling me that the doctor had changed his mind. She was nice enough once she had it on and taken a look to go back to Dr. Warden and ask him to take another look. He did so and agreed that 30 was okay–a small victory! The plan is that I am to avoid activating the triceps to straighten my arm. Gravity should do all the work. I will be seeing him again in 4 weeks.

The new brace is a big improvement over the splint, in addition to looking way cooler! I can now do things like reach my butt, which is important for reasons I will not be going into, and while I haven’t tried yet I think it will also allow my right arm to contribute positively to the driving experience. Still can’t use it for eating, though, but at the same time my left-handed technique keeps On my way! improving. Every day a little better!

I began my yoga practice just over four years ago and have had the benefit of personalized instruction from some very dedicated teachers. Paramount among that group is Ramona Magnolia Tamulinas, my yoga muse. I have been taking weekly private yoga lessons from Ramona for almost three years now and have reaped tremendous improvements in my practice as a result. I am currently quite excited that Ramona is now in the process of opening her own studio. The studio, named Flow LBC, is in the Wrigley neighborhood in Long Beach at 700 W. Willow (cross street Maine Ave) and is but a short walk from home for me.

On Sunday, September 25, we were treated to an open house at the studio. Ramona, unfortunately, was unable to attend, so fellow teachers Violeta Isavel Rangel, Adrienne Peters, and Samantha (aka, Sam) Parks served as hosts for the event. Ramona and friends have done a wonderful job of creating a space very conducive to a pleasant and productive yoga experience. Despite the 102 degree heat outside, the combination of air conditioning and ceiling fans made for a very comfortable place to spend a very hot afternoon.

In addition to potluck food and drinks, some wonderful entertainment was provided. First up was an acapella trio, Bedlam Lullaby, featuring Sam Parks, Cameo Adele, and Denicar Bergancia, self-described as three old souls with a thirst for chaos and a love for serenading others. I was completely captivated by their mix of old standards, current tunes, and original compositions. All three of them have beautiful voices, and together they have a grasp of harmony that provides for breathtaking results. They have been together for about three years now and are currently only gigging once or twice a month, but I predict that once word gets out about them that they will very soon be a very hot commodity.

Next up was something very different, a trio named Emerald Frontier fronted by Adrienne Peters (another multi-talented yogini!) and including Adrienne’s spouse Tracy Jupiter on multiple instruments along with Heather Dillehunt on bass. They are “…a post dark-wave electronic trio with a hint of mid-east flair… Mix a bit of urban grit with sultry, dark vocals, keyboards, bass, and electronic composed beats and theater [for]…a transformative trip through uncharted territories.” Adrienne was a bit nonplussed by the confines of the space and a lack of vocal monitors, but they put on a stirring set nonetheless.

Ramona is still in the process of assembling a regular schedule for the studio, and for the time being they are offering a variety of donation based classes. Check the website for current and future class offerings.

The featured image is a panorama of the very cool mural in the restroom at Steelhead Coffee that extends across three walls!

Now about me. Because of the difficulty Dr. Warden had in stretching and reattaching my tendons he is taking a very cautious approach, which means that I am still wearing a splint that keeps my arm almost fully extended 24/7. As I am right-handed and the injury is to my right arm this has been more than a small hassle, but I have adapted quite well. As time goes on I have noticed that the bindings on the splint have loosened somewhat and the utility of my right arm has been improving. I can now do things like pull up my pants, whereas before I was unable to even reach my waistband, and movements that formerly caused discomfort now come and go without pain. I took it very easy last week on walking as I was also trying to rehabilitate an upper hamstring strain, but this week I have been able to be more ambitious and extend my range quite a bit. Prognosis on both fronts is very promising!

My next visit with Dr. Warden is scheduled for Monday afternoon, and I am hopeful that I will lose the splint at that time

The Fox Coffee House on west Willow in Long Beach has open mic’s every Thursday and Saturday nights. On selected Saturday’s they will have a featured performer from 7-8 pm, and those performers are drawn from the ranks of open mic regulars. This Saturday one of those regulars, Deja Nichole, made her debut as a featured performer on her 18th birthday. Deja has only been frequenting the venue for a couple of months, but her debut was spectacular! She has a beautiful, powerful voice and can accompany herself on guitar, and her set showed a degree of polish and sophistication well beyond what might be expected based on her age and experience.

Deja sang a mix of covers and original songs. Her own songs deal with serious and mature topics; a good example is “Lion’s Den”, which deals with the tensions between the African-American community and the police, a situation that one cannot adequately understand unless one has spent time in the lion’s den. The real highlights, however, were when Deja performed duets with other regulars like Jesse Schade and Eddie Lopez. In her short time as a Fox regular she has developed very productive collaborations with other members of the community, and as host Sean Gallagher likes to remind us, that is the whole reason behind this venue. Deja’s last song was an original named “Friends”, and in her preface she told us that when she first started coming she really didn’t have any friends, but now she has an entire community behind her and working with her. This is a young lady with a very bright future, and you can catch her this Friday doing a 30 minute set at The Royal Cup Cafe for their open mic.

 

Just returned from my first post-op visit with Dr. Warden. I first was sent in for an X-Ray of the elbow, complete with splint, and then to an examination room where a nurse pulled up my X-Ray, cut away the dressings, and left me to wait for the doctor. I am now regretting my adherence to the “No Cell Phone Use” signs and the resulting failure to snap pics of my wound site (invisible to me without reflection) or my X-Ray, an oversight which I will amend in the future. I hope! What I could see of the arm looked great-no major swelling or discoloration-and I could also see a pin seated in the end of my ulna that looked to be fine.

The doctor then came in and told me that the anchoring had been extremely difficult and even accused me of passing a six month old rupture off as fresh. He mimicked putting his foot up on the wall and pulling with both hands as an illustration of how difficult it had been to retrieve the end of the tendon, and told me that the first pin he had inserted had actually pulled out. The upshot is that we are going slow and I am stuck with this splint until at least the 26th of this month.

As for the difficulty, I have my own theory. On several occasions after the accident I had raised my right hand too high in the air and an involuntary mechanism had cut in, causing my arm to snap to a fully flexed state accompanied by very powerful and painful spasms in the upper arm. My theory is that those spasms were the unattached triceps firing to do the work they were supposed to do, and those episodes essentially left those muscles tied up in a big knot that resisted straightening. Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!

As I was starting my walk back from Albertson’s yesterday, carrying a bag with 10-15 lbs of groceries, I was conscious of many sources of complaint emanating from various and sundry parts of my body. My right arm, of course, but my right ankle was also speaking up, along with my left shoulder. It finally dawned on me that even the limited activity that I have been engaging in was pushing things a bit too hard, so I grabbed a bus to cut down my walking. Over the past couple of days I discovered that the 181 bus, which comes up Magnolia from downtown and has a stop 250 yards from my house, morphs into the 131 at Wardlow Station and takes me right here to Steelhead, and to points beyond as far as Belmont Shore and Seal Beach. Doesn’t get much better than that, as far as I am concerned!

I have also realized that trying to type with my right hand was counter-productive, so I am now sitting here dutifully resting my right arm on my leg while my left does all of the work. Speaking of sitting here, a large part of my daily practice now consists of sitting here and at the same time keeping my core fully engaged and doing various shoulder and heart opening isolations. Just put my feet up on the chair across from me and working on my dandasana. In a few minutes I’ll step outside and do some folds, squats, and roll-ups. It’s been a cold morning, and the sun feels real good!!!!

Had some sad news yesterday when I heard from Evelyn Grauten, core coach extraordinaire and member of Team John, notifying me that her long-running mat Pilates at Yoga World was being discontinued (super sad faced emoji here)! That class was a key component of my core-building program, and will be greatly missed. Luckily, Evelyn works at other locations around town, including Long Beach Recreation. I also want to give a shout-out to another member of Team John, Edna Pestaño, who was kind enough to make a house call to cut my hair and also help me wrap my wing in shrink wrap so I could take a heavenly shower. You can find Edna at her new location at the Supercuts in Seal Beach.

Life for me is all about systems, and injuries like my current state of affairs provide tremendous opportunities to develop new systems. For example, I am right at this very moment at Steelhead Coffee trying to develop a system whereby I can comfortably blog in this, my favorite blogging spot. Have tried several different configurations of table height, distance from table, positioning of iPad on table, with less than satisfactory results (very sad face emoji here), but think I can solve this one by raising the iPad by an inch or less. Must pack appropriately sized book in future! For now, honing left-handed typing skills!

I have also modified my “get myself to Steelhead” routine as well. Normally I would walk the 1.65 miles, but in the interest of using this period of low activity to also let my work on my gait to settle I am trying to limit my walks to half-mile segments. My routine this week will be to walk the half-mile to Wardlow Station and take the bus, reversing on return.

It has been really busy at Steelhead this morning. I had the pleasure of seeing Jenni Brandon and catching up with her. Jenni is a fellow graduate of the 200 hour teacher training at Kava Yoga. Jenni and her husband Simon were in the class prior to mine, and while I did it to further my own very new practice, Jenni is all about the teaching. I think she teaches a couple of hundred classes a week (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration) at various places around town (including Kava) as well as subscription classes at her house.

The featured image for this entry is the mural on the outside wall by Yoskay Yamamoto and associates. One afternoon last week I stopped by the Fox Coffee House and found it to be a bustle of activity that seemed to be centered around a young Asian man seated at a table writing in a notebook. On inquiry I found out that the bustlers were filming a documentary and the young man was none other than Yoskay himself! I got to meet him and see that the notebook was a sketch pad. The Fox was used as a location as it is home to another of Yamamoto’s murals.