Post #6: Tennis Anyone?

5/2/2013

Life has played a cruel joke on me. No, I'm not talking about it snowing in May and ruining a good day of tennis. I'm talking about tennis elbow. Or elbows, rather. Both of my elbows.

And I don't even play tennis.

As a rather embarrassing aside, I once tried to learn to play tennis.
After a few lessons my instructor said it was impossible to teach me.

So my elbows are not broken from tennis. Apparently TYPING can somehow cause tennis elbow, and I've been doing a lot of typing.

THIS WEEK'S GOAL: major revisions on last chapters of manuscript, to the tune of one chapter each day

MAJOR HICCUP: must stop using computer and allow elbows to heal

ATTITUDE: not good

CHANCES I'LL MEET MY GOAL THIS WEEK: slim to none

CURRENT PLAN: stop typing, put laptop aside, use my hands as little as possible, feel a bit sorry for myself, watch movies to keep my mind off not being able to write

REQUEST: what movies do you recommend???

6 Comments

Tamsyn

5/2/2013 11:57:25 pm

Horrible! just Horrible! i wonder how Libba Bray got through 2 broken elbows? thanks for the update, you know i enjoy your blog posts :)

Chris Mandeville

5/3/2013 01:50:38 am

I'd forgotten about Libba's broken elbows! After reading your comment I googled and read everything I could find on Libba's injury and the aftermath (fun reading--I'm not joking--Libba is hilarious even with a serious injury). What I found is that Libba could keep writing (typing) but had to limit her activity. I was inspired! I thought "I can do that too!" and then googled "tennis elbow" so I could learn how best to position my arms while typing, how much to limit my activity, etc. Now: no longer inspired. I found that I must not limit my computer use, I must STOP it to give my arms a true rest. I also should not turn doorknobs or do household chores that aggravate the injury. I noticed that even READING--on my computer, iPad, and old-fashioned books--causes pain and must be avoided. Fine. I can stop reading, writing, doing chores and peeing with the door closed. I will watch movies and boss my kids around, I mean "talk them through doing the chores I need done" for however long it takes to heal my elbows. EXCEPT: it hurts to bring the coffee cup from the table to my lips. This is a somewhat serious complication. I'm not sure I can make it through the days (weeks?!?) to come without coffee. Does anyone have one of those beer caps with hoses that I can use to get the requisite amount of coffee into my body each day? I'm also in need of a sherpa, and mine is currently unavailable. Sigh. Someone send me a movie list, please???

John Pennington

5/3/2013 03:27:32 am

One movie I thought was good but didn't get much attention was The Lovely Bones. It's emotionally heavy but worth a view. Lighter fare may include Bubba-ho-tep staring Bruce Campbell as Elvis in a retirement home. If you are looking for just a fun set of shows, Curse of the Were-rabbit and Chicken Run are some of my favorites.

5/7/2013 05:46:00 am

Watched The Lovely Bones and really enjoyed it. It was the perfect choice to watch on my own--no one else in my family had any interest in it, and they wouldn't have appreciated it anyway. Thanks!

Kendra Merritt link

5/4/2013 11:56:45 am

You write SF and F but how do you feel about it in your movies? A couple of my current favorites are Stardust (kind of like The Princess Bride) and Suckerpunch (way darker but so so good).

5/7/2013 05:48:15 am

I loved Stardust. I haven't seen Suckerpunch yet, but will give it a try. I do like some SF and F movies, but it's hit or miss. Right now I'm enjoying a future-dystopian-time travel TV series on Netflix called CONTINUUM. Liking it a lot so far. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll probably be watching a lot more movies while my arms heal :-)

Post #6: Tennis Anyone?

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