Thanks for the nightmares, last.fm

Every time I visit last.fm, Mistabishi is leering at me and creeping me the hell out.
WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME, LAST.FM?
I will have nightmares about this one day.

The Agony is Almost Over

The end is finally in sight!

Wednesday will be judgement day, aka my allergy test. I'll finally know what on earth I'm allergic to and what's causing all of this agony.

Yes... Agony. 

I've been in so much pain these last few days because I've been ordered to be off all antihistamines until the test. No nasal spray, no Benadryl (which has also been helping me get to sleep), no Advil Cold & Sinus...

Things have been bad enough WITH medicine, but without has been filled with nothing but awful facial pain.

Not only do I have sinus pressure below and above my eyes now, but also my upper jaw hurts like it's been punched, or like I walked headlong into a wall.

Now not to get all girly on you all, but there has been another side effect of this sinus saga...

Damn. Dark. Circles.

I haven't been able to leave the house often anyway, but the few days that I actually haven't been feeling like death, I've been LOOKING like death. Covering up the deep, sunken black semi-circles under my eyes has been a pain.

Pre-makeup and post-makeup... Not a 100% fix, but better than nothing. It's either fix the eyes a little, or risk looking like a clown.

To make a long blog-post short, I just can't wait for this hell to be over. Life with facial pain is a very miserable life indeed. I've already missed so many classes, a birthday party for an old high school friend of mine, and a Bully Breed Rescue event due to this crap. 

It's time for it to stop.

Hiatus until further notice

I've been struggling really badly with my newfangled allergies, and it's clear that I can't keep up with my regular duties of updating the blog and YouTube page while they go untreated. I'm currently also working on two major projects, one for my sculpture class (due the 22nd) and the other preparing for a charity event where we'll be selling clay jewelry to benefit Bully Breed Rescue.

I'll be only making small updates like posting to Instagram until further notice. You can follow me on Facebook for all the latest updates and to be the first to know when my videos will be back. (Just search "Hello Interloper"!)

We'll be back soon!

Skyla's Story: To Remember

I stumbled through the doors of the Lancer's Guild, shaking the rain off of myself.
Godsdamned rain...
I gave a sigh, and proceeded to the counter. Unfortunately for me, someone was already here, chatting away. I turned and looked around.

The Lancer's Guild's lobby was a lot smaller than I had expected. Maybe I'm just too used to thinking of Lancers and Dragoons as deserving of honors. Seems like almost everyone holds a spear here.
After staring at the walls for a bit, it was finally my turn.

The clerk, Jillian, seemed eager to let me join the ranks of new Lancers. As she spoke of the training and tasks I would endure as a fledgling Lancer, I shivered with delight. Finally, I would learn to use this spear properly!
I enrolled in the Lancer's Guild joyfully, prepared to start my journey.
Jillian smiled as I wrote my name down on the dossier, and told me there was one thing left that I had to do... speak to the Guild Master. She motioned to the door next to her, and I took a step back.
I felt a lump in my throat. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing more in this world that I want than to learn the ways of the Lancer, to do what I feel is destiny... but there is still a part of me that doubts that I will be capable. That fear came creeping out at that moment. What if he says I'm not "Lancer material?"
No, I scolded, Don't think like that. If he could do it, you can... You have his blood, after all!
I shut my eyes and opened them anew, determined to do whatever was asked of me.

As I walked into the next room, I saw people training vigorously. Two were doing push-ups while one stabbed a training dummy, and another spun a lance over his head as if he wished to take flight. All the while, a man stood against a pillar, staring at me...
"And you are?" he suddenly inquired.
Guess this is the Guild Master... come on, you can do this.
"Skyla Leitero, sir, I'm new here."
He nodded, and he began to give me what I imagined to be the usual new adventurer speech. My nerves were quelled when he made mention that I'd have to train hard to become a true Lancer... Training hard is fine. Having it be impossible to attain isn't.
It was then that the conversation got a bit more serious. He told me about the history of the spear, the basic techniques employed, among other useful information. I listened with wide eyes, taking it all in.
It was then that he said something that made my heart skip a beat...
"A true lancer, however, flinches not before his enemies, for he knows not the meaning of fear. Ever does he press forward, disdainful of the odds, that he might pierce the enemy line and open a path to victory."

It was as if the world stood still for that one moment, and memories flooded back to me... memories of cold nights alone, playing possible scenarios in my head of how my father my could have died.
And suddenly, all I could think of was a faceless Dragoon, charging headlong into a horde of enemies that nothing short of a miracle would bring to its knees...
I closed my eyes, shaking off the thoughts that had decided to plague me at a most inopportune moment.
Thankfully the Guild Master was busy talking of how perseverance was the key to success, and failed to notice me drifting into deep thought for a moment there.

"Are you ready to attack things with reckless abandon for your first task?"
I nodded silently, and he sent me off to go kill some funguar, ladybugs, and squirrels just outside the city.

I feigned a smile, clenched my fists, and went on my way, fighting my own mind.

Allergies. WHY.

Over the past two... okay, maybe three... weeks, I've been absolutely miserable.
It seems that my sinuses have decided to rebel against me, and cause me great discomfort. By that, I mean stabbing pain above my eyes, below my eyes... Basically, my face has been killing me, somewhat like if I inhaled acidic Jell-O.
I've been trying to medicate myself with Advil Cold & Sinus (that's the serious stuff, the one you need to show an ID for) but for the most part it's been only a temporary relief that also knocks me out for a few hours. Not exactly the perfect fix.

It was last week that I finally threw my hands up and decided that this needed professional attention.
I showed up at our local medical center, which is basically a giant building next to a hospital that houses just about every damn specialist you could ever be needing.
My specialist? "Ear, Throat, and Nose."
Or maybe it was Sinus instead of Nose.
Whatever.

It was then that I became acquainted with THIS thing...

Yes, that is a giant metal rod.

A giant metal rod that goes up your nose.

WITH A CAMERA.

Let me tell you, that was the oddest sensation. Imagine being on the brink of sneezing for about a minute.

It was kind of like that, except I did actually sneeze... Not with that thing up my nose though, I had to raise my hand to alert the doctor, at which point she removed it and I sneezed.

Anyway, the moment she stuck that metal nose probe up my nostril and into my sinus, her first reaction was, "Oh... You look REALLY allergic."
Allergic.
THIS WAS DAMN ALLERGIES ALL ALONG.
All the pain, the headaches, the throbbing, the clogged airways... ALLERGIES.
I don't HAVE allergies.
I'm allergic to mold and cats, and that's about it. No trees, no pollen, nothing.
Despite what an allergy test said a decade ago, I'm apparently severely allergic to something, and it's causing really bad inflammation of my sinus tissue.

In two weeks I'm going back to get a full battery of allergy tests done, because apparently you can suddenly become allergic to something you've never had a reaction to before, and I think this is what has happened to me.
I've lived relatively allergy-free for the past 13 or so years since we gave back our cat. (We got a hairless cat thinking it wouldn't trigger allergies... only to find out that it's cat SPIT I'm allergic to, and hairless cats lick themselves more. Go figure, huh?)
It's annoying to think there might be something else I have to avoid, but I guess that I just will have to suck it up.

Until next time... for now, I'll be taking some weird-smelling prescription nasal spray that doesn't seem to do anything, and waiting for my test date.