My Fortnight With Shingles

During the first two weeks of December, I experienced a case of shingles.

When you hear about shingles, they're usually someplace on a person's torso, but the gods blessed me with a breakout on the left side of my face. Unlike what you hear, in my case, it wasn't painful - at least I was spared that - but it wasn't fun, and it sure wasn't pretty. I will treat you to some pictures of the progression later in this post; something to look forward to!

The Onset

Naturally, at first, I had no idea what was happening. The first symptoms began to show towards the last weeks of November; I felt aches and pains in the bones in the left side of my head, mostly around my jaw. My teeth in that area were quite sensitive, but I dismissed it as "cold weather" sensitivity. Later, I was to discover (thanks, internet!) that these were signs of neuralgia (literally "nerve pain"), a common symptom of the onset of the illness.

As you know if you've read this blog, I am a member of the Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir, and on November 28, we held the first of three scheduled Christmas concerts. The concert went well, and I was planning to attend the customary choir afterglow at a local pub. On stepping outside after the show, though, I began to feel extremely tired. I was with another choir member, and we decided to get something to eat, then head home. I had also been noticing redness in the skin on the left side of my face, and asked if he noticed it. We both wondered what it could be - eczema, maybe? No, I had had a bad case of that as a child, and mostly remember the terrible itchiness that accompanied it, which, thankfully, wasn't happening here.

All the way home, I felt more and more fatigued, and was quite exhausted by the time I got in.

The next day, I noticed that the left side of my face was starting to swell up, and decided I'd better get to a doctor.

The First Week

Monday, I went to a local walk-in clinic, where the doctor looked at my face, and diagnosed me as having shingles. She assured me that it wasn't unusual for it not to be painful, so at least there was that. She prescribed two medications, Valacyclovir for the shingles, and Cephalexin, an antibiotic.

I was also sent to an ophthalmologist, since my left eye was quite red, and while I waited, I took the first dose of the medications (these were not cheap, by the way - the cost of both medications was nearly $200). The ophthalmologist found no issues with my vision, and off I went home

After I got home, it occurred to me that I should take a picture to document this experience (if anyone should doubt it), and did a bathroom selfie.

Just for contrast, here's a pic I had taken just a few days earlier and posted to Twitter to show my Movember 'stache, which I would shave off early, because my face was getting more and more swollen:

And, here I am on Monday afternoon:

Looking at this pic now, I can't believe I actually went out in public looking like that! Eurgh!

The doctor I saw at the walk-in clinic warned me that the symptoms could get worse before they got better, and boy, was that an understatement!
Shingles is essentially the chicken pox virus, lying dormant inside those who get chicken pox as a child, then showing up again as you get older. So, as with any virus, there are attendant symptoms such as fever, chills, weakness and fatigue. For most of Tuesday and Wednesday, I slept, either in my chair or in bed. I didn't have much of an appetite, either; I would take a few bites of something, and feel nauseous, then immediately flop down again, exhausted.
Also during this time, the area under my left eye got so badly swollen that it was easier just to close it and use my right eye if I wanted to see something.
As you see in the picture above, my upper left lip was also swollen up, and it got so bad that I couldn't open my mouth the whole way. Plus, the whole left jaw area eventually swelled up to near-tennis ball size. You can imagine how difficult this made eating and drinking, and as the week progressed, that area of my face became dry and encrusted, making things even harder.
All the quotidian things we take for granted had to be rethought. Shampooing in the shower wasn't possible, and I didn't dare shave my left upper lip for the whole two weeks; once the scabs receded, I had to keep the whiskers trimmed with scissors. Flossing? Forget it. Brushing? Just barely.

I didn't lose hope that the symptoms would go away soon, though. The choir had two more Xmas concerts to do, and I was determined to make the next one, the weekend of December 5. Unfortunately, the symptoms persisted, and - well, I was fooling myself, really; they weren't going anywhere, and neither was I.

As a precaution, on Monday, I had done some extra grocery shopping, and had enough to eat for that week, but by Saturday, I was running short. I was over the flu-like symptoms, and my appetite was returning, but now the outbreak on my face was starting to turn into reddish-black scabs, and I looked worse than ever! Fortunately, a very good friend, who lives nearby, was able to bring some groceries, and a box of surgical masks which I had requested, to my place on Saturday. I was over the contagious phase of the illness, so no issues with visitors, but as I mentioned, I looked like hell, and the masks would allow me to get outdoors without, at least, feeling too self-conscious. I made hot chocolate for my friend and I, and we had a nice chat.
I've been on my own for many years, and like to feel that I prefer it that way, but when you're completely alone like this, you realize how much you do miss other people. I sure was glad to have some company!

Well, by Sunday, I realized that I would need at least another week for things to clear up, and called work to say that I would need that much more time off.


The Second Week

On Monday, I went back to the walk-in clinic, just to see how things were progressing, from a professional's point of view. I felt better every day, though progress was slow, and was able to get out in public with a surgical mask on. The receptionist at the clinic (who must see sick people all the time) was quite shocked by my appearance, which made me glad I didn't try to go back to work, or to get out more than I did.
The doctor told me to finish off the antibiotic pills I had been prescribed the week before, and prescribed Bactroban, an antibiotic cream that I could apply to the scabs and surrounding areas, to ward off possible infections.

Here is what I looked like for that whole week:

You can understand why I wanted those surgical masks, right?

I still had limited energy, and needed rest and recuperation more than anything. But my appetite was improving, and I could get the groceries I needed on my own now.

Early in the week, my regular GP's office called and suggested I make an appointment. The earliest they could take me was Friday (which was why I chose a walk-in clinic in the first place). By this time, a lot of the scabs had come off, though there were still plenty, and there was starting to be an itch on the clear areas. The doc prescribed a lotion to combat the itch, and suggested I put Vaseline on the scabs to soften them up and help them come off. This turned out to be the best suggestion of all, as that's just what was needed to clear things up over the next few days.

Sadly, I had to beg off the next (and final) Xmas concert that the choir was doing, that Saturday the 12th. I still didn't feel "presentable" enough, and was still easily tired.
I got a call from one of the guys that week, with a very generous offer of monetary assistance from some choir members for the time I had to take off work. I assured him that I have some savings that I could use to cover the lost wages, but was deeply moved by this gesture.
Also, I had rented an instrument from a music store to play for these concerts, and was unable to return it while I was ill. When I did get it back to them and explained my situation, they said they had already taken the next month's rent out of my credit card, but would refund the difference, in cash!
As I write this, I am still touched by the kindness and sympathy shown to me by friends and family, and strangers, during this difficult time.

Then, it was back to the ophthalmologist again, for follow-up. She found no problems with my vision, which made me feel more confident and happy than I had for a long time.


It's Not Over...

By the second weekend (12-13 December), all the scabs had come off my face, save for a small one near my eye, and I was able to go back to work on Tuesday. I put in full days the rest of the week, and was even able to enjoy the company Christmas party that Friday. Even between Tuesday and Friday, co-workers were remarking how much better I looked.
My appetite and energy increase every day, and I feel able to do all the things I used to, though I don't push myself. Happily, there are no vision or muscular problems as a result of this illness.

There is still a tiny bit of swelling and reddish skin on the left side of my face as of today, December 23. Part of my upper lip and some of my teeth on the left side are still numb, like a dentist's freezing. The downside is that the itching is more of a problem - actually, it's weird; the sensations range from itching to numbness to aches to tingling. It's sort of like when your leg falls asleep, and as the circulation comes back, you have these different sensations - only it's happening way more slowly than that.
I have trouble getting to sleep at nights, when there are no distractions, and my focus shifts to the itching in that area. I try to think of other things, and eventually do get to sleep, but it can be fitful. My eye is pretty much fully open, but still a little red, and alternates between being itchy and being sore. Thankfully, I still have lots of that lotion to relieve the itch, and am now reconciled to the fact that this is going to take its own time to fully heal.


Finally...

This was one of the loneliest periods of my life. I really appreciated the sympathy and encouragement from friends and family, but I felt so very isolated. I even felt despair at moments - which, thankfully, soon faded - that I hope I never feel again. I can't imagine how it must be for those with a chronic illness, or shut-ins, who truly can't get out, and may not see an end to their troubles.

Perhaps I, and anyone who reads this, can show a little more empathy towards people who are genuinely less fortunate, especially in this season.

And on that note, Merry Christmas - Feliz Navidad - Joyeux Noel - Buon Natale - Froehlich Weihnachten - to everyone. Thank you for reading this blog; I look forward to posting more in the new year.

Psychology On the Street

November 14, 2015


On this chilly Saturday, seven volunteers (including myself) gathered at the Urbanspace Gallery at 401 Richmond St. W. to participate in a "psychogeographic" walk of some of the neighbouring streets.

This was the latest in a series of walks that had already taken place in New York City, Berlin and Mumbai, to measure ordinary peoples' emotions and reactions to the urban environment. You can see their website at psychologyonthestreet.com.

The study was being conducted by Dr. Collin Ellard and some students from Waterloo University. We were greeted by one of the students at the Gallery, and given electronic devices to wear. One was worn like a headband, and measured brain activity, like an EEG. It even measured our eye-blinks! The other was worn like a wristwatch, and measured things like pulse and body temperature.
These were to gauge autonomic responses.
We were also given an Android device, much like a smartphone, on which we were asked to record our conscious reactions to the places we looked at, by answering questions (on a 1-to-5 scale) like "How old is this area?", "How safe is this area?", "How much traffic is in this area?" etc.

Each place was chosen according to a few factors, like density, age, noise level, traffic, and so on.

Our first stop was at the intersection of Queen W. and Portland St., where we took in this view:

As with each stop, we were given one minute to study this area, then asked to answer the questions, as I mentioned above.

The next stop was this alley looking south to King St. W.:

Then, on to this view of condos along Stewart St., near Wellington:

Next was Clarence Square, at Spadina and Wellington, looking a little drab this time of year:

Our next stop was a parking garage near a couple of construction sites, on Peter St. south of Richmond, where I didn't get a picture...

...then it was back to Richmond & Spadina, where we were instructed to take a look west at the intersection:

We had done our tasks as instructed at each stop; by the time we got here, it was starting to get quite cold, and we were glad to be able to get back indoors.


Once back inside the Urbanspace Gallery, we were "debriefed" by our guide, and encouraged to give comments or ask questions. It had been a good learning experience for all of us.

It is to be hoped that the results of these studies will be shared with urban planners and developers, so that future urban spaces can be created in ever-growing, ever-changing cities - that take into account the positive (and negative) ways their citizens react to the place they live in.


For my part, I realized at one point that I don't really know this city that well, after all, and felt quite humbled. We passed by independent coffee shops, pubs, restaurants and stores that I'd never seen, or even heard of.
It made me realize how often, when I spend time walking around downtown, that I stick to major streets like King, Dundas, Queen, Bloor or Richmond, and not lesser-known streets that may well yield small rewards, like an undiscovered shop, or a breathtaking view of the skyline.

I still have much to learn about my city.

Some Fall Colours In Toronto

Fall has arrived (did you set your clock back last night?), and with it comes an explosion of colour as our deciduous trees shed their leaves for the coming winter.

In downtown Toronto, there aren't too many places where you can get the most spectacular colours; for that, you need to go to the Rouge Valley, or right out of town altogether. As time goes by so quickly these days, it seems like there are only a few days of colourful leaves in the city, then whoomph! they're all on the ground.
Nevertheless, there are some amazing shows to be had south of Bloor St., if you slow down and look closely. There don't have to be blazing oranges or reds in order to catch your eye.

Let me show you what I mean:

First, looking south from the Prince Edward Viaduct over Rosedale Valley Road, there are some nice varieties of colour, from green to a deep orange:

Pix taken with smartphone, but colours came out quite nicely!

And farther along in the same valley, more colours. I was particularly taken with the leaves at right just nicely turning from green to yellow, and the reddish-pink of the ones in the centre:

Right near Castle Frank subway station is this brilliantly yellow maple tree...

And, even though I was essentially shooting blind through the "Luminous Veil" over the Don Valley, I still got a good shot of some great orange/rust/red colours along Bayview Ave., south of Bloor:

Finally, in Withrow Park, a couple of more maples going from yellow to orange:

You can see how quickly the leaves are falling here, so, yes, there is just a small window of time available to see these things, and to get a few snaps.


Like I said, Algonquin Park it ain't, but if you "go placidly amid the noise and haste," and just simply stop and take a look around, you will often see beautiful things right in front of you.

The Magna Carta in Toronto

Introduction

At Fort York here in Toronto, there is currently an exhibit celebrating the 800th anniversary of the signing of the original Magna Carta in June of 1215.

As you may know, the Magna Carta (Grand Charter) was a document discussed, agreed upon and signed by King John and a group of "rebel" barons, who felt the king held too much power over his subjects. It limited the king's powers, and introduced many legal rights that we are very familiar with (and even take for granted) today. These included the right to a trial by a jury of one's peers, the right to a speedy trial, and the concept of habeas corpus, among others.

Now, these rules didn't apply to everyone. The document makes reference to "free men," which meant the upper classes, like lords and barons, and not the peasants over whom these people still held power. As time went by, though, the rules came to be applied to every citizen of a country.

The Magna Carta has been the starting point for almost every modern constitution and bill of rights that we know today, including those of France, The United States, and Canada, as well as the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


The Exhibit

The first part of the exhibit is a video introduction by HRH, Prince Charles, who talks about the signing of the document, with particular reference to how it's relevant to modern Canadians. There are comments by noteworthy Canadians such as Kim Campbell and Frank Iacobucci. There are also some animated sequences explaining the background and culture of the time of the Magna Carta, narrated by another noteworthy Canadian, national treasure Gordon Pinsent.

Then it's on to the documents themselves. The actual 1215 Magna Carta is not in this exhibit (King John signed it, then, with the help of Pope Innocent III, proceeded to summarily ignore it, and there are only a few copies extant.) This exhibit includes a year 1300 copy of the document that normally resides at Durham Cathedral in England, as well as a copy of the Forest Charter.
The Forest Charter set out rules for land usage in England, as woods and their related activities, like hunting and trapping, were a crucial part of life for anyone in the Middle Ages.

We were allowed to take pictures of these documents, but only without flash on the camera, and without leaning over the temperature- and light-controlled glass cases they were enclosed in. So these aren't the greatest pics, but the documents are the real thing.

First was the Forest Charter:

Then, the 1300 version of the Magna Carta itself:

As you can see, the documents have been folded and re-folded many times. They are written with extremely small, though beautiful, calligraphy, and are in Latin, the formal language of the day. They both include the king's seal, which was made with a stamp in hot wax, and had the same meaning as a signature does nowadays.
I don't mind saying that it was pretty awe-inspiring to be able to look at these ancient documents that are so very important to everyone.


There were also electronic representations of each of these documents, that you could enlarge in order to see the document better. With the press of a button, you could also see the document in an English translation, with an interactive glossary to explain such terms as "scutage," "wapentake" and "novel disseisin."

Here are the electronic versions, first of the Magna Carta:

You can see the same "king on horseback" seal as the original document.

And the Forest Charter:

The rest of the exhibit included text relating to more modern documents that would have been inspired by the Magna Carta, as well as quotes from figures like Franklin Roosevelt and Nelson Mandela, that referred to the universal human rights that it espoused.

A very cool part of the exhibit was a large world globe that you could move an e-reader around and highlight different countries' constitutions and bills of rights throughout history. It's surprising how large a span of time there is between the earliest of these documents (the U.S., France and Denmark, all in the 18th century) and the most recent (Germany and Japan, after the Second World War).


The last part of the exhibit covers Toronto itself, and the recent advancements in human rights that have happened, most notably gay rights. There are text and pictures of events that have occurred, probably, within most peoples' living memory, starting with the massive police raids on Toronto bathhouses in the early 1980s.
There is also a reference to the first gay marriage, where, if you can picture it, the minister was issued a bulletproof vest by police prior to performing the ceremony.



Conclusion

I was very happy to be able to see these ancient documents in person. I felt obligated, actually, as a fortunate citizen of one of the most functional societies in the world today, to pay my respects to these forward-looking, and still relevant, pieces of history.
(I was also inspired enough to buy a two-by-three foot poster of the English translation of the Magna Carta as a souvenir.)

As a great man said, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, and rules like these are never to be taken lightly, or - worst of all - forgotten.

Nuit Blanche 2015

This year marked the 10th year for the Nuit Blanche celebration in Toronto. I've been to most of them, though not all. I've seen it grow from a smaller series of installations (that were often widely spaced out, and frankly, a little hard to find) to the well-run, easier-to-follow party that it is now.

I suppose it is possible to see all the pieces in one 12-hour period (and if you have, well-done), but I've usually chosen a narrower path that I could walk in a few hours, based partially on pieces highlighted/recommended in local media. Who knows what I've missed as a result, but a person can only do so much! As it is, I am usually quite exhausted by the time I call it quits (not a kid anymore).

This year, I checked out the Nuit Blanche website, and decided to follow a roughly L-shaped path (okay, maybe more of a zigzag), starting from Dundas & McCaul, and ending around  Queen's Quay & Parliament. I have lots of pictures, though not of everything.


The Journey

My first stop was at St. George the Martyr church, off McCaul, and a piece by Mary Ma called Reverence In Reverie, an image of blue skies projected onto a circular screen suspended in the middle of the room.


Then it was on to the TIFF Bell Lightbox, where I ended up spending most of three hours sitting (very welcome) and enjoying several pieces, the first of which was called LIKE/COMMENT/SUBSCRIBE, a collection of strange, quirky or humourous videos posted to the internet over the years:

This was literally an all-night program, every hour on the hour, with different postings being played each time. So you could have stayed there all night if you wanted!

Other pieces there included KINO-BLENDER, a darkly humourous mashup of trailers, scenes and dialogue from movies over the years, that went about an hour.
Another piece was called Gauge, a time-lapse film taken in Canada's lower Arctic, with a group of artists painting indigenous-themed scenes on walls of ice and snow that seemed to rise from the tundra, then sink again.

There was also a fun piece called Pixelate, where participants could perform some activity against a background. These would be filmed, then pixelated, to resemble an old-school video game.
Here's a photo of it that better illustrates what I mean:

As I said, this visit took some time.


Next, it was over to David Pecaut Square for this installation by Stefan Verstappen, called Tri-monic: Shape, Sound, Sight. Passersby were invited into this circle of three lit-up plinths to play a keyboard or stringed instrument, or sing or speak into a microphone. The sounds were amplified and distorted into a kind of sound collage.

Along the way to the next piece, I was struck by this installation, by Friends With You, entitled Light Cave. As you can see, it's a polymorphous piece of stitched-together, inflated canvas, lit from within. People were invited to walk through, talk to others, take photos or selfies, or whatever they wished.

The next piece was very cool. It was by the software company Architech, and called The Face of Toronto. People lined up and got their picture taken, which was then mapped (as you see in the pictures), to be made into a series of faces that would morph from one to another, to reflect the diversity of Toronto's citizens. The finished project is supposed to be available on the company's website.

In case you're wondering, there was a long lineup, so no, I didn't get my pic taken. Here's the link, though (copy & paste): http://www.architech.ca/#/labs/nuit-blanche2015



Then, it was on to the Tundra Restaurant at the Hilton Hotel at University & Richmond, for a fascinating piece by Maziar Ghaderi called Mirada: Holographic Fire X Interactive Technology. When I arrived, there was a native poet, Duke Redbird, reciting a poem as people sat on banquettes around the perimeter of the room, and electronically-enhanced sounds of nature played. You can see Mr. Redbird, with microphone, just to the right of centre in this picture:

What was striking about this piece was that there was no actual fire; What appeared to be flame in the central glass piece was actually reflections of projections in each of the four monitors around it, giving a "holographic" effect:

Then, up to Nathan Phillips Square for a very ambitious project by JR called Inside Out. Once again, people were invited to have their picture taken, and the photos were enlarged and displayed on various surfaces around the square, as in this picture, where they're on the now-iconic TORONTO sign:

Enlarged pictures were also being pasted to the concrete of the square itself...

...as well as to the wall of the ramp up to the rotunda level:

And, here is the view from the rotunda level of the whole thing. It's hard to tell in the dark, but it almost seems to be in the form of a maze.

At top right, you can see the photo booth (oddly enough, called "photo booth") where people got their picture taken. As you may have noticed by the pictures, it seems like they were encouraged to use whatever facial expression struck their fancy!


The other very striking installation at the square was called Park Here, by Katy Chey. It plays on both meanings of that title (i.e., park your car here/here is a park), and the artist created a parklike environment right in the city hall parking lot.

I loved the contrast between the drab, mundane poured concrete of the parking garage and the green trees, bushes, and wood-chip flooring of this installation.

The next stop for me was the gazebo at St. James Park at King & Church, to see a project by a group called the Department of Imaginary Affairs, entitled The East Side Story. It was a giant, six-page book, laid out on the floor of the gazebo, with writings and photos by residents of Toronto's east end.

It looked like "East End" was fairly broadly defined, as there were testimonies from people in the Cabbagetown, Leslieville, and Beach areas, among others.

You could also write a personal message on a large piece of canvas, which, as a long-time resident of the east side, I did.



Across the street, at the Sculpture Garden, was a piece by An Te Liu called Solid States. The artist took found pieces, cast them in bronze, and made abstract sculpture with them. It seemed like many of the pieces originated from styrofoam packing material.

A couple of the pieces were decidedly anthropomorphic in nature, as this closer look at the one in the foreground of the above pic will demonstrate:

Then, it was down (and back) to Union Station, where there were a couple of installations, including this colourful fabric piece by Amanda McAvour, called Pattern Study:

On the way south from there, there was this interesting/eerie/unsettling piece by, once again, JR, projected on the Union Station overpass, called The Eyes of the Bridge. The eyes were in constant motion, as if watching passersby.

Down at Waterpark Place was this sound installation by Marguerite Humeau. It was part of the "Beaufort" series for this night, and is called called Screams From Hell, actual sounds that emanate from the earth's crust (no, no, not the people talking, the eerie tones in the background):

Further along Queen's Quay, at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel, was this amazing piece, also part of the "Beaufort" series. It's by Los Carpinteros, and is called Frio Estudio del Desastre. It simulates the moment of impact of a shell on a concrete-block wall:

I couldn't resist taking a shot through the hole in the wall (actual cinderblocks, by the way) from the other side:

What a breathtaking piece of work!



Continuing along Queen's Quay, another in the "Beaufort" series, this one called Hit, by Christof Migone, in which performers (in this picture, two people in a trailer) made sounds by striking a microphone against various surfaces, or by vocalizing...

...which were then transformed/processed/mutilated into this incredible collage of noises by a DJ/mixer:

Next was another "Beaufort" piece, by Heather & Ivan Morrison, called The Cleaving, large piles of logs which people could walk through:

Then, there was another highlight of the night, another "Beaufort" piece, by Robert Wysocki, called Lava Field, actual lava produced by melting rock in a coke-fired furnace and allowing it to flow over the ground outside the Lakeshore campus of George Brown College.

You could feel the heat off this thing, though it was cold and windy on the lakeshore. Sparks were flying everywhere, and I even got a small one in my eye! No damage, though.

Yep, real lava.

There was another piece along Queen's Quay, another of the "Beaufort" series, called Dispersal Zone. The artist, Tim Knowles, used generators to pump a substance through the streetlights that emitted a cloud from each one. As you can see, the effect was quite striking, with the wind blowing the clouds in every direction:

Finally, there was this fascinating work by Tomas Saraceno, the first of the "Beaufort" series, called Cumulus. It was a projection against the Victory Soya Mills silos, and was a very slow-moving series of changing cloud patterns. A few sequential shots might be the best way to show how this worked:

Well, that was all the exhibits I took in for this year. As a capper, I turned around from that location (Queen's Quay & Parliament) and took the final pic of the night, of Toronto's ever-changing skyline. Then it was on to the streetcar and home, just after 2 a.m.

In Summary

This was a rewarding night, as Nuit Blanche usually is.
Whether we acknowledge it or not, we rely on artists, of any type, to help us see things differently, to take us away from the mundane for a while. If our eyes are opened, our perceptions challenged (and hopefully changed), and if we have a little fun along the way, then the efforts of these people will have been worth it. They are to be congratulated.