Is a “Babinski” a Polish baby deer?

It’s 5 a.m. here in north Texas and Sam is in bed. I’m drinking an ice cold can of diet ginger ale and just finished refilling my pill sorter for the week ahead. At this time of night I’m never really sure if I should go back to sleep or sit up for a few hours taking drugs and working on a Howdygram post. So many decisions ...

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I wrapped up my last Howdygram post with a brief kvetch report, and that feels like an appropriate way to begin THIS one. My only real complaints at the moment are: 1) mild body aches; 2) stiff knees; 3) irritated skin on the back of my left thigh; 4) very hot hands; and 5) uncontrollable twitching in my hands and fingers.

It’s the complaint behind door number four that I’d like to discuss this morning. Uncontrollable twitching. Okay?

First of all, visible witching doesn’t happen all the time, only when my hands and wrists are in certain positions, such as typing at my keyboard or when I’m lying on the chaise trying to hold onto the remote. There are also very slight (but constant) jerky movements in my fingers that make it fucking impossible, for instance, to hold onto a piece of paper, a plate of food or an insulin syringe.

Although uncontrollable finger-twitching doesn’t exactly herald the end of the world, it’s still annoying as hell and most likely a side effect from the higher dose of Gabapentin that I started taking a few weeks ago for neuropathy pain. A few other strange complaints began around the same time: unsteadiness, hoarseness, gas pains, a feeling of warmth or heat and watery eyes. I guess I should be thankful that I haven’t developed any of THESE side effects [courtesy of the knowledgeable people at Drugs.com]:

Vertigo
Hostility
Abnormal dreams
Intracranial hemorrhage
Facial paralysis
Stupor
Positive Babinski sign*
Subdural hematoma
Apathy
Hallucinations
Paranoia
Doped-up sensation
Mania

To tell you the truth, I do occasionally feel doped-up, apathetic and stupid ... but I attribute this to the number of different (and wonderful) drugs I take that make me drowsy, especially at breakfast time (i.e., Gabapentin, Norco, Benazepril and Metoprolol). To the best of my knowledge I’ve never exhibited paranoia, hostility, a subdural hematoma or an intracranial hemorrhage. Out of curiosity, is a “Babinski” a Polish baby deer?

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I’ve got TWO HAPPY NEWS THINGS for you today, and here they are!

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And now I’d like to share some new digital backgrounds that I bought on Etsy a couple of days ago. These include 10 really pretty seamless natural wood backgrounds, 30 bold black & white patterns and a huge variety of string lights and chandeliers with sparkly things. I think the sparkly things are GORGEOUS, don’t you?

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Here’s a shockeroo for you ... I only have four TERRIFIC FREE FONTS for you this morning! I love all of these for a variety of reasons. “Shameless,” for instance, will be terrific when I do calligraphy slogans on mugs and tote bags for The Howdygram Store, and “Calder” will work at small sizes with “Shameless” and other fancy scripts. I like “Telegramo” and “Melay Script” because they’re both weird. Download links will appear after the graphic.

SHAMELESS • TELEGRAMO • MELAY SCRIPT • CALDER

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Federal District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel has ruled that Donald Trump, founder of bullshit Trump University, must face civil trial for fraud and racketeering under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”).  Trump had moved for summary judgment in a last-ditch effort to block a class-action trial scheduled to begin right after the national election. Judge Curiel basically said, NO WAY, ASSHOLE. YOU’RE GOING TO TRIAL.

Denying the motion, Judge Curiel ruled there were more than enough genuine issues to charge Trump with fraud and racketeering.  If Trump loses, he is liable for three times the damages suffered by the students who paid tuition.  This could amount to many tens of millions of dollars. And with any luck, Trump will spend the rest of his miserable life in prison.

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It’s shortly after 7 a.m., and the next item on my agenda is a call to Consumer Cellular to activate my new iPhone 5S. I’m nervous and excited at the same time ... this is my first iPhone and I really don’t know much about it. Fortunately, Sam has the same phone — that’s just one of the reasons why I bought the 5S — so I know I can count on him for free tutorials whenever I get confused.

Thank you for reading this.