Multiple Sclerosis is even uncooler than originally thought
If you read last week’s blog, part one of this crucial two part posting, you might have felt that I was exaggerating. But consider even more evidence as multiple sclerosis and aging continue to drastically combine, making me and my world even uncooler than originally thought.
As someone smart who would have loved to have the talent to be in a rock band, I recognize that rock bands are cool; especially classic rock bands. I recently discovered that my TV has on it something called Music Choice stations where I can pick a genre of music and just listen to it, 24/7 if I feel like it; or if MS is keeping me from sleeping, thinking or doing anything remotely productive.
I didn’t know about this station previously as the stations I actually get on my television die after about channel 100. Music Choice is in the 500 range and whoever goes all the way up there?
Anyway, they have a classic rock channel and of course, that would be the coolest one to watch. And it’s even better than listening to a good radio station as no commercials interrupt the classically cool music.
As I was listening to this station I noticed that to give you something to look at while they play music they offer “Did You Know” questions about the artist whose song they happen to be playing at the time. I was super proud that I knew most of the answers to the questions.
Yes I knew that Mick Jagger went to the London School of Economics
Yes I knew that Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival
Yes I knew that Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 90’s.
What a relief! MS hasn’t robbed my brain of knowledge of important information!
But after the trivia questions, the channel shows advertising relevant to the person watching the channel. And what did the Music Choice Classic Rock channel offer? Advertisements for Medicare, knee replacement surgery, Life Alert bracelets and loan payments!
Seriously! The channel could at least take me back to my party days by offering fun beer and wine advertisements.
I no sooner thought that when they showed another advertisement- for help with addiction!
Everything I ever understood about what I thought was cool and what wasn’t just got completely shifted around as I sat on my sofa, enjoying the music but paranoid about what ad would pop up next.
Speaking of paranoid, did I know that Black Sabbath’s song Paranoid was their only top 20 hit?
No, I didn’t know that one. And like that, my worries about the world coming to an end were back.
I couldn’t even take comfort in the fact that my favorite guitarist, Keith Richards, wasn’t helping me sort this all out.
Keith Richards, the hardest rock partier of the seventies and one of the coolest musicians ever, had just published a children’s book!!!
Who could have possibly seen that coming???
True, it is a book about a cool kid with a cool grandpa who both play cool guitars.
And true, it has really cool illustrations done by Keith’s own daughter.
But still, this classic of classic rock guitarists writing children’s books-how am I supposed to handle that?
Luckily I took comfort in the fact that if Keith was going to write a kid’s book at least he wrote a cool one. I pondered further and wondered if the answer is that maybe perceptions change as we age and/or as MS robs us of things that we treasure.
Yes, MS is still super uncool. But maybe it’s not that simple.
So please allow me to take pride that, for the most part, I can still recognize cool even though cool might not be as obvious as it used to be.
MS= Very, very uncool
Worrying about what’s cool and what’s not=uncool
Living life with whatever you may need to rock it= Cool
Realizing that changes in life don’t mean that the world is coming to an end= cool
People with MS kicking MS butt= Super, super cool! Probably, the coolest of the cool…
Next to Keith Richards of course.
A letter to my awesome readers-
Dear friends,
Did you know that you can help fight multiple sclerosis? I believe that one way is by using your sense of humor to fight back! Every time you smile, giggle or laugh out loud, you are fighting back!
Another way you can fight MS is by purchasing my book/ebook, MS Madness! A “Giggle More, Cry Less” Story of Multiple Sclerosis where a portion of the proceeds from each sale goes to nonprofit agencies helping people with, or who are fighting chronic illness.
But here’s a new way to fight back. By checking out www.iConquerMS.org
This website, sponsored by the Accelerated Cure Project for MS is described as a research initiative where MS patients can share their health histories and work together to find the best research to develop a cure. With patients working together, who knows what we can do!
Check it out here to see if you would like to become involved..
Girl Guitarist Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Insomnia Girl Image courtesy of debspoons at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Happy Emoticon Image courtesy of farconville at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Angry Emoticon Image courtesy of farconville at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Good one Yvonne. No disease is cool but MS rates up there with one of the most uncool as it is invisible to an extent so most of the time all you get are stares and disgusted looks. As for the advertisements on our cool station – baby boomers are aging and the kids listen that crap they call rap. I am angry enough with MS I don’t need to listen to rap to make me angry LOL. As for disability and aging – well let’s see what 2016 brings when SSDI runs out of money and all those on Disability go scurrying about trying to figure out how to live or exist as it were. Maybe the ads will be for finding a job after 50 or how to eat on a no budget – better than medicare or chairs that lift you out of them or my favorite the Hover round – perhaps not. So our music tastes are uncool then there must be a lot of uncool baby boomers out there as there was a need for this station and that is something to take great comfort in. Kudos for knowing about the rockers. I just listen!
Thank you Judy! The whole thing is crazy. I think the worst is the Life Alert commercials- those are disturbing. But I can deal with the Life Insurance commercials- those old ladies are cool!
Love it I still can’t believe the bands and songs i rocked out to as a teen and into my 20’s are now “classic rock” a little depressing 🙁 …. I have to hand it to you though at the Motley Crue/ Alice Cooper concert you did great, of course me being the crazy one of the group probably looked like a total idiot headbanging my fool head off… I don’t care what people think is cool, I like what I like and act however I feel at that moment… Keith is an author wow how strange.
He has two books out now= the man is amazing!!
A few notes:
1) Kids’ books are cool and have been ever since Dr. Seuss started writing them. Note that not all kids’ books are cool, but as a class, they are. All you have to do is read a lot of them and take a look at some of the cool people who’ve written them.
2) MS might not be cool, but having MS can make you cool. The fact that some people with MS aren’t cool, doesn’t make us uncool as a class any more than a few lame “Dick and Jane” books make kids’ books uncool in general. Want proof? Check out Kayla:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11909407
For my money, she’s as cool as it gets. I’ll take that kind of cool every day.
3) Need proof that the old music is cool? What do they use for a soundtrack for “Guardians of the Galaxy”? It ain’t hip hop, it’s 60’s/70’s pop and Motown. They will always be cool!
I didn’t know that about “Guardians of the Galaxy” Rick- that is great info! And I agree, Kayla is amazingly cool! i stand corrected on the children’s book thing. A lot of the kid’s book authors are also cool. It was just hard to picture KR entering the field!
Please don’t tell me you are smoking a cig while writing (like Keith smokes when playing guitar)
If you keep this up, you’ll be smashing your laptop after every post like The Who trashing their instruments.
Too funny My Odd Sock. I haven’t started trashing things yet but can’say I haven’t thought about it!! Hahaha..