Rick,
I haven't been talking much on the list lately because I, like you, am
scurrying to earn while I can. Your remark below about people feeling
uncomfortable with your wobbliness caught my eye.
I have mostly stopped worrying about whether people notice my trermor
or not. Strangers' level of comfort with my condition is not my
concern. It does help, if I'm with people I know or work with, to tell
them I have PD. Then they know what's going on, and I don't have to
wonder what they're wondering.
I like to think that one day PD will go the way of polio. Someone will
luck out, the break will come, and it'll be over.
Sooner rather than later would be good.... In the meantime, hang in.
Sounds like you're doing very, very well.
Kathleen
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick McGirr <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 07:51:36 -0500
Subject: Re: PD/artistic ability/All/Rick
Them's the breaks. I'm alright. Can't lay down and take it. Gotta
fight. Gotta keep going. Gotta have faith. We'll win out.
Something good'll happen. You wait n see. OK?
Rick
----- Original Message -----
From: "rayilynlee" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 10:52 PM
Subject: Re: PD/artistic ability/All/Rick
> Rick, here I was bemoaning the loss of a hobby, not a profession.
> Well, I
> can't teach any more either, but it really brings home to me the
> outrage of
> the wait for help from Singapore or South Korea.
>
> I "dance" on the treadmill but it is getting kind of pitiful. I was
> 60 when
> I got PD, you are way too young to have it. It just breaks my
> heart.
>
> ((((Rick)))) from Ray
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rick McGirr" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 6:10 AM
> Subject: Re: PD/artistic ability/All
>
>>I think if I was a major league ball player, I wouldn't be one of
>>the
>> noble greats who leave the game before they have to. I would play
>> until I couldn't make a team, just for the love of the game. What
>> do
>> you mean? No, the $3 million a year has nothing to do with it!
>>
>> Actually, Scott, the thing that's getting me down a bit right now
>> is
>> the fact that I have so many commitments, most having to do with
>> bringing in a few bucks, that I can't work on my playing the way I
>> need to. I can still get through a rock or blues gig fine. Most
>> of
>> that stuff is 'flash and trash', as my college prof used to say.
>> 'But
>> I like it, like it, yes I do!' I feel like I still have some years
>> left before I can't fake it anymore. I find that the individual
>> identity of each finger is what's diminishing, ever so slowly. But
>> I
>> still have the 'groove', and if you have that, you can rock til
>> you're
>> blue in the mouth.
>>
>> But actually, there's a bigger fear than playing wrong notes in
>> public
>> (like that's never happened before). I think about being a
>> spectacle
>> off stage. If I had to hang around numerous venues between sets
>> and
>> waddle and wobble and wiggle, which I do a little bit now, it would
>> be
>> hard for people and me to feel comfortable with it. (Hey! This
>> could
>> be a way to get people to move my gear for me!) This would lead to
>> me
>> explaining myself and PD quite a bit, which wouldn't be the worst
>> thing politically, but the bar owner might look a bit perturbed
>> (like
>> that's never happened before). Once it gets back to the booking
>> agent, then you have a problem, 'cause word, like rot, would spread
>> around town fast, and then the phone stops ringing and you're done.
>>
>> I have a bunch of piano students, and pretty soon I'm going to have
>> to
>> tell them why my arm shakes during lessons. I'll have to start
>> sitting behind them while they play, instead of beside them.
>>
>> I short, I may be going down, but I'm going to take as many of them
>> with me as I can. And afterwards, my son can entertain me. We
>> have
>> similar, broad tastes, (Hey, get your mind out of the gutter!) and
>> he's recently done his first few decent-paying gigs with a band. I
>> am
>> blessed with a wonderful wife and family, so I'm sure I'll be fine,
>> whatever happens to me professionally.
>>
>> I also think of my mom, a painter, who had her abilities taken away
>> by
>> a stroke a few years back. She's in a home now, and they've been
>> trying to encourage her to try some sketching with her left
>> (non-dominant) hand, and she's been doing a bit. Such a struggle
>> for
>> her. I got it great in comparison.
>>
>> Enjoy Fall!
>> Rick McGirr
>> Email: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Scott E. Antes" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 1:42 PM
>> Subject: Re: PD/artistic ability/All
>>
>>
>>> Hi Ray and Rick and All.
>>>
>>> Out of town over the weekend, and saw this message first. I, too,
>>> would like
>>> to know if more of our list members are musical/artistic--or if
>>> anyone knows
>>> of PD people who are artistic. Laureen (my wife) doesn't really
>>> talk about
>>> not playing piano/organ any more. It's only been few months since
>>> she
>>> stopped--and she stopped when she felt (not anyone else)her
>>> abilites
>>> were
>>> going downhill.
>>>
>>> Scott
>>>
>>>>===== Original Message From "Parkinson's Information Exchange
>>>>Network"
>>> <[log in to unmask]> =====
>>>>Scott, interesting idea.
>>>>Well we have Rick, our hip, humorous musician. Some people
>>>>thought
>>>>I played
>>>>a pretty mean piano, but I knew enough about music to know I
>>>>didn't
>>>>know
>>>>anything. Have small hands and was too lazy to practice too.
>>>>Years
>>>>ago my
>>>>musician teacher of 3 months asked me to "sit in for him" at an
>>>>almost empty
>>>>piano bar. I froze with fear. Does it bother your wife like it
>>>>does
>>>>me that
>>>>she can't play any more? PD is such an awful thief.
>>>>
>>>>Also could paint copies of great art, but nothing original. I
>>>>wonder
>>>>who
>>>>else on our List has/had artistic abilities.
>>>>Ray
>>>
>>> Scott E. Antes
>>> Department of Anthropology
>>> Northern Arizona University
>>> Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5200
>>>
>>>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
>>> mailto:[log in to unmask]
>>> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
>>
>>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
>> mailto:[log in to unmask]
>> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
