Pouring out

[clevermanka]

As I walked into Wescoe Hall this morning, the smell of the (horrible, cheap) coffee brewed every morning by the Philosophy department hit me. And I had a moment of overwhelming grief that literally (yes, literally) stopped me in my tracks.

God damn I miss coffee.

And then what was the first article I saw on the Breaking Muscle Blog this morning? This one.



It's not even the caffeine, although I do miss that little burst of energy. It's the smell and the taste and the feel in my mouth. Nothing can substitute for coffee. Nothing. And I miss it. A lot. When I was six years old, coffee-flavored ice cream was my favorite. Coffee was a near-lifetime love of mine. I never had to acquire a taste for it. I loved it the first time I tried it. Stupid allergies. I hate them.

Today's Tumblr collection is a little unusual. It's a mixed bag of text posts, a couple gifs, and one vid that are all related to a subject near-and-dear to me. Tuesday, April 16: Fandom.

Comments

[ms-danson.livejournal.com]

I am so very sorry for your loss.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's the only thing I've had to give up that I'm (ahem) bitter about.

[anomali.livejournal.com]

Have you had a reaction to coffee that you have noticed in the past or have you done an oral challenge since you eliminated it? I ask because I have learned that the blood tests have pretty low inter-test reliability.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried coffee since the allergy test came back positive last year. I haven't seen studies that show allergen blood tests are unreliable.

[sherwood21.livejournal.com]

YOUR COFFEE ALLERGY IS A BUTT-FACE DOODY HEAD. :,(

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

TELL ME ABOUT IT.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

OMG I LOL'd so much about the Fandom collection! The serious blogs about how fandom is Real Writing and Art (with billions of examples) are super, too. And that "Starships" vid is just full of awesome. Too bad I can't share that on this year's Campbell Conference "sources" page.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm happy you enjoyed it. This collection was probably a little more up your alley than collections of Sexy Boys Smoking, etc.

FANDOM FUCK YEAH

[tama-grey.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry.

Anecdotal evidence is not technically allowed, but here it is anyway - I was tested three times for allergies (skin injections, bloodwork, the whole shebang) with the following results: Allergic to nothing. Allergic to EVERYTHING OMG I'M GONNA DIE. Allergic to basically nothing (I think there were maybe two things with mild skin-injection reactions). So when you crack open that safe full of money you were saving up to pay for Hogwart's tuition, another go might be worth the try.

[tama-grey.livejournal.com]

THIS.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

when you crack open that safe full of money you were saving up to pay for Hogwart's tuition, another go might be worth the try

Ha! Yeah, exactly. The most recent round of food allergy tests ran me nearly $500. I gotta just take it on faith that they were accurate. At least it's not like it physically damages me to not have coffee.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

:-D

But I'm happy that you enjoy the SBS-themed collections, too, and I appreciate that kind of enjoyment of Cool Stuff.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm. SBS. New acronym.

[anomali.livejournal.com]

It's not just you or me*, Tama. Where are you at with this now? I know I have an allergy to pistachios since I turn red, get hives, and have a hard to breathing.

For those who haven't had these tests, this is what they are:

Patients suspected of having food allergies usually undergo a skin test, which involves placing small quantities of potential allergens under the skin of the patient's arm. If the patient's blood has antibodies specific to that allergen, immune cells will release histamines that cause itching and redness in the spot where the allergen was placed.

Doctors can also perform blood tests that directly measure the presence of particular antibodies in the patients' blood. However, one drawback to both of these tests is that the presence of antibodies to a particular allergen does not necessarily mean that the patient is allergic to that substance, leading to false positive results.

-from May 22 2010 Science Daily

(*My blood tests from 1999 and 2006 and my skin tests were not in agreement. So far, my oral challenges have shown NO reaction to any berries. I will be trying the pork in another week.)

[athenaartemis.livejournal.com]

This would appear to be another "let's reblog everything in your Tumblr collection" day.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

It took me a while to love coffee. I always liked the smell, but the taste was UGH. And then, as many teenagers do, I got hooked on those Starbucks frappuccino things, with all the milk and sugar. WOO CAFFEINE AND SUGAR FUCK YES.

And then. AND THEN. I was at a local vegetarian diner and they had bottomless cups of Stumptown coffee. With real cream. And I was a goner.

I've gone off and on coffee since then, depending on what medications I'm on. (When I'm taking 300mgs of Wellbutrin a day, any coffee at all makes me nauseated all day, but I can handle tea just fine.)(Also, the sight of me taking my adderall with coffee horrified a friend of mine once.)

Oh lord, I'm so sorry that you can't drink coffee. Visiting Portland might be torture for you. I bet you're not a beer drinker either.

(Note to self: Maybe try coconut oil in my coffee.)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I've mostly come to grips with not drinking coffee. Just sometimes it hits me, hard, that it's on my verboten list. Nope, no beer for me, but I don't miss beer all that much. Except for Guinness, once in a while.

Really happy that wine's back on the menu, gotta say.

[anomali.livejournal.com]

I wish I could remember where I read about the study in which they found less than 50% of children whose blood tests show allergies to common allergens like eggs, nuts, peanuts, and soy demonstrated any symptoms when orally challenged. This certainly raised questions about the reliability of the tests in my mind.

http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Food-Allergy-Blood-Tests-Sometimes-Unreliable.aspx

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

*shrug*

Whaddya do, though? As I said to someone else above, it's not like it's damaging my health not eating things to which tests showed I'm allergic. In this case, it's much better to play it safe.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Oh lord. One of the reasons I don't want to get knocked up, ever, is that I'd have to not drink for so long. No. Not happening.

Which is to say: I'm very happy that wine is on your menu again.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

ME, TOO.

[blackdwarv.livejournal.com]

This coffee's for you...

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Um.

Thanks?

[blackdwarv.livejournal.com]

Da nada.

BTW: Your memorial coffee (stumptown breakfast blend) is quite good.