Do I Want To Take Pain Medications? The Simple Answer Is No. Just Like I Dont Want To Take Any Of The

Do I want to take pain medications? The simple answer is no. Just like I don’t want to take any of the medications I am prescribed. But equally I know that those same drugs keep me functioning. That without them I would not be able to write this post, or stand, or walk the few steps to my toilet. Similarly, adequate pain control gives me the ability to drive 3 hours to the city for my medical appointments and to sit on the couch with my family without tears. But access is complex. And there is a pervasive idea of the drug-seeker, seen in every patient who has chronic pain. That those who simply don’t get over pain and require ongoing pharmaceutical management are weak. Friends who have used pain clinics tell stories of dismissal and blame. That they are not trying hard enough when they don’t recover, when I know the lengths they have gone to to try and alleviate their pain. And compassionate pain doctors who become the exception not the rule.

“When ‘Suck it Up’ Becomes the Only Pain Treatment You Are Offered”  (via prelovers)

Did you know that Moomin creator Tove Jansson illustrated J.R.R Tolkiens The Hobbit for the 1962 swedish edition? These are just a few of the illustrations in the book.

Hooooomygod

Awwwww, crud, I told myself I wasn’t going to do fan art for this show, and yet here we are. >_>;  Here is a (probably overly melodramatic) portrait of Childermass from the BBC production of “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.” Go watch it.  It’s an excellent adaptation of one of my favorite books. <3

Why, Mr. Strange! You look dashing tonight!

JS&mN character theme songs

So this afternoon I took all of the major characters in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and matched each of them up with two pieces of classical music that I thought best suits them.

Here I use the word “classical” in the general sense, since the works below encompass the Baroque-Romantic period. This took a bit of time (because I couldn’t choose), but it was a lot of fun. If you want to ask me about any of my choices, I would love to discuss! I am a professional classical musician and have performed roughly half of the works below, so can say my judgement on this one is pretty good ^__^

Jonathan Strange: Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream Op.21, and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony, mvts I and II (x) (x)

Gilbert Norrell: Purcell’s O Solitude and Ravel’s piano trio in A minor, mvt III Passacaille. (x) (x)

John Childermass: Jacquet de la Guerre’s Harpsichord suite no.5, and the Prelude to Bach’s cello suite no. 2 (x) (x)

John Segundus: Tchaikovsky’s string quartet in D, mvt II, and Boccherini’s string quintet Op. 25 no. 6 (x) (x)

Vinculus: Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Brahm’s string quartet no.3 Op. 67, mvt I  (x) (x)

Stephen Black: Telemann’s sonata in D for cello and continuo, and Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre (x) (x)

Arabella Strange: Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, and Elgar’s The Snow (x) (x)

Lady Pole: Ravel’s La Valse, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo; Tu Sei Morta (x) (x)

Christopher Drawlight: Strauss’s Salomé’s Dance, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni; Mille e tre (x) (x)

Henry Lascelles: Locatelli’s concerto grosso Op. 1 in c minor, and Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain (x) (x)

The Gentleman: Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919), and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; Papagena Papageno duet (x) (x)

The Raven King: Mozart’s Requiem, and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo; Possente Spirito (x) (x or x)

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