Rolling the Dice - TBI and alcohol

The experts agree: people recovering from traumatic brain shouldn't drink.  It's a vicious cycle -TBI lowers survivors' alcohol tolerance.   It enhances alcohol's negative effects, and alcohol in turn exacerbates TBI deficits.  This lovely cocktail (no pun intended) of alcohol and TBI can lead to impaired thinking - poor judgment, memory issues, decreased motor skills, and so forth - basically alcohol's ordinary minuses, but amplified.  In some cases alcohol can even lead to seizures.  

Fortunately this only while people are recovering.  I was straight edge* at 19, when the drunk driver hit me (yeah, how's that for irony, a drunk driver hits a straight edge pedestrian who doesn't drive), so when the doctor told me I shouldn't drink it didn't bother me. 

Unfortunately recovery is a lifelong process and when, years later, I "broke the edge" and started drinking, I still had to deal with TBI-alcohol problems.   If I had problems every time I drank I just wouldn't do it, but this is not the case at all.  Drinking is extremely interesting for me - my tolerance and reactions are so varied that I never know what to expect.  

The vast majority of the time everything is copasetic, some nights I drink two drinks and am pleasantly tipsy, other evenings and I will have 5 drinks and not feel the affect, but I am generally pretty good at regulating it.  However on occasion there can be dire consequences.  One fateful night (last summer) I had two drinks, I felt fine, but half an hour later my memory of the night ends, and I (apparently) ended up vomiting in an obliging closet.  

Now I am one to roll the dice, I don't drink terribly often, but last night I decided to a Matador Records/Insound listening party for AC Newman's (frontman for the New Pornographers) new album Get Guilty.  A friend of mine was organizing it, and I hadn't seen her in ages, besides; I love the New Pornographers.  I took the D train from my Harlem apartment to the Lower East  Side, and Stanton Public, the bar it was at, was easy to find (after having written down step-by-step directions - www.hopstop.com has saved my life on more than one occasion).

I'm not sure if I'd ever been to Stanton Public before, but it is a really cute little bar, and all the better for having an open vodka bar.  I'm not one to turn down a free drink, and when my friend suggested I get a drink, I readily ordered my standard cape cod - it's hard to get a vodka cranberry wrong.  It was a fun night - I got to catch up with a lot of friends I hadn't seen in ages, hear a good album, meet some cool kids, and everybody seemed to like the turtles I brought (like I said, I've been a candy making fool; the caramel recipe makes delicious turtles)

Sorry, no fireworks.  Just a fun night with friends in LES.  I won this roll of the dice.

TURTLES

Ingredients:

• Caramel
  
• 1 pkg dark chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
  
• whole pecans

Assembly:

• Cut caramel into pecan-sized squares
  
• Lay out sheet of waxed paper
  
• Melt chocolate in double boiler
  
• Assemble turtles by sticking one pecan onto each piece of caramel
  
• dip caramel/pecan pieces in chocolate.  
• Refrigerate turtles

Enjoy!

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge

Trials and Tribulations of the Directionally Challenged

Among the more upsetting side-effects of my head injury is the fact that I am still unable to well, find my way out of a paper bag.  No matter how many times I walk, drive, or travel, even the simplest route, there remains a high probability that I will find myself hopelessly lost.  I have come to accept that I am pathetic at finding places, but it never ceases to amaze (frustrate) me when I find myself lost in a familiar area. I have been living in the City for three years, give or take a little vacation time here and there and 6 months hiatus in Budapest.  In that time I've learned to navigate some parts of the city pretty well, provided they're set up on a grid (forget about downtown).  

 Catherine Deneuve is unquestionably one of my favorite actresses, so when I heard she had a new film out this year, Un Conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale), I couldn't wait.  I made plans to meet up with a friend and see it on Tuesday.  The film was at 6:55, but we were going to meet at 6:30 to get tickets.  She texted me at 5:50 saying she was at a coffeshop at  64th and Broadway, and I told her I was on my way.  Before I left the library (at 40th and 5th) I checked the address of Lincoln Plaza Cinema, where we were meeting (Broadway between 62 and 63rd).  I'd pick up some kettle corn on my way to the theater.

As I stepped outside a harsh blast of wind and snow blindsided me - no beautiful fluffy cotton-ball flakes drifting down here.  This was millions of insidious little flecks of half-frozen ice posing as snow coming at me from every direction.  I quickly put up my umbrella to fend off the onslaught.  Within a few blocks the icy cold wind had blown every ounce of sense out of my head. I could have taken the train, but I'd made up my mind to get that kettle corn - I was determined, I had time, it wasn't that far.  The theater was at 67th and Broadway, wasn't it?

When I reached Columbus Circle I checked my phone to make sure I was okay on time - I'd missed a call!  My friend had called - it was after 6:30!  This snow wasn't helping anything.  Suddenly I was lost - did Broadway go through Central Park?  Surely it didn't stop and start again after - it couldn't!  I'd walked it before.  How did this work again? I walked back and forth trying to figure it out chastising myself for being so stupid.  I would figure it out it- I had to!

Maybe I should take the subway, but what if the train took forever - it was only a few blocks. No, I couldn't give up ... I would find my way there ... I was on a mission!  Finally I remembered that Broadway moved West of 8th at Central Park, I still had time to make it if I hurried.  I lengthened my stride, trying to ignore the icicles forming on my hand clutching the umbrella, and hurried up to the 65 street intersection, where I became hopelessly lost once again.  Where was Broadway on the other side of this knot of roads?  I cursed the hateful street it's twists and turns making me late.  

At last I made it to the theater - Broadway between 66th and 67th.  But wait, was a Catherine Deneuve film really playing at an AMC?  That didn't seem right - wasn't this an indie film?  I double checked the cinema's name - Lincoln Cinema.  That was it, wasn't it?  I walked inside, asked of a ticket to a Christmas Tale and paid for my ticket.  (Great, she'd given me a ticket - this was the right place!)

Shoving the ticket in my pocket I half-ran to towards the theaters.  I was halfway up the escalator before I looked at the ticket: Four Christmases.  What!?  I raced back down the escalator.  By the time I got back to the cashiers I was practically in tears.  They kindly gave me my money back and told me the theater I was looking for was at 63rd and Broadway.  

5 minutes til the movie started - I raced out the door, only to become once again hopelessly lost at the dreaded intersection.  Eyes blurry with tears and snow, I made it to the front of Lincoln Center searching for the cinema, after several failed attempts at following signs I took a deep breath and asked a man hurrying through the snow for directions.  He pointed across several lanes of traffic.  Somehow I had walked past it in my rush to get to the other theater and was now on a completely different street.  

The previews were over and the film had long since started by the time I shamefacedly slunk into the theater, squeezing past people and into the seat my friend had saved me.  

The moral of this story is that a little margin for error is never a bad thing, and for TBI survivors a large margin for error is advisable.  

As for the film, though my opinion could have something to do with the fact that I missed the beginning, I was not particularly impressed.  Though the acting was great, it seemed like the plot was somewhat unfocused and the character development was rather lacking.  It was quite unfortunate.  Thumbs down to  Un Conte de Noel

I went home and made caramel - I've been on a candy making kick lately.    It turned out really well.  Caramel may take time, timing, and stirring, but that just makes it more fun.  I definitely recommend this recipe:

CARAMEL

Ingredients:

• 2 c. granulated sugar
  
• 2 c. corn syrup
  
• 1 stick butter (8 T)
  
• 1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
  
• 1 pt (2 c.) heavy cream
  

You will need:

• -Large heavy-duty pan - it is extremely important that you use a heavy-duty pan.  If the pan is not heavy enough the caramel will burn or cook unevenly
  
• -Candy thermometer
  
• -9X13 well-greased pan

Candy Making!

1. Add corn syrup and sugar to the pan.  Place over high heat stirring constantly until well-mixed.  Then stir occasionally until boiling.

2. When at a roiling boil, add the butter

3 Place cream and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat.  Mix well and heat until hot (but not boiling)

4. Add milk mixture in a slow stream to the large pan stirring constantly, then stirring occasionally as the temperature rises.

5. When temperature reaches about 227 start stirring again and watch the mixture carefully (you don't want it to burn)

6. When the temperature reaches 230-235, the soft ball stage, then pour mixture into the greased pan. 

7. Let Caramel cool overnight and cut into pieces.