The Reverie Harp

This is a somewhat unusual topic for me to blog about, but I have deemed it "blog-worthy." (I trust enough of my readers will get the thinly veiled Seinfeld allusion.)

I heard this last week on the classical music program, "Performance Today" (Weekdays 7-9pm, KPBS Radio) and while most of the details of the music they are playing go over my head, this segment was different. It introduced a new instrument called the "Reverie Harp" and its use in some forms of therapy. It is an instrument that was designed specifically for people with no musical skills and apparently almost anybody can learn to play it reasonably well in a very short period of time. Its not really a performance instrument - instead, as the name suggests, it is an instrument that is used to cause a reverie. One group of people who have found this instrument helpful are those dealing with impending death - folks who have been told that they have a limited time to live (possibly the most defining piece of news one could receive). This resonated (no pun intended) with me, and hence this post.

If you want to hear the PT segment, here is a link to the audio. The actual discussion about the Reverie Harp starts at 50:25 of the second hour. You can also read about it on the website of the creator of this instrument (Roberts).

It Never Rains, but it Pours

This story is well known within our San Diego crowd, at least those who have been around since 1996 or so. I have been meaning to record it for a while now, so here goes.

It was a Monday in early '96 and Rahul, Sanjay, and I were roommates in a 3-BR townhouse in Pacific Beach. I was enrolled in a UCSD Extension course and was taking the day off to prepare for the final. I was heading upstairs to the kitchen when I started feeling slightly woozy, but I managed to negotiate the stairs without issue. I had some cereal and still feeling a little light headed, went back down to my room. I was getting more dizzy and soon nausea hit me and I just made it to the bathroom to heave up my stomach contents. I could barely stand and stumbled back to my bed. Subsequent trips to the bathroom had to be done on all fours. The only way to avoid nausea was to lie face down on my bed and remain completely still. Clearly, this was not a sustainable situation, so I dragged myself across the hallway and knocked on Sanjay's door. He responded after a while:
Me: "Hey Sanjay, I am not feeling too good. Can you drive me to the hospital?"
Sanjay (in a feeble voice): "Actually, I am not feeling good either. I was about to ask you to take me to the doctor."
Me: "What happened to you?"
Sanjay: "I am not sure, but I think I have Chicken Pox." I crawled back to my room. Rather conveniently, Rahul had left town earlier in the morning.

After some time, I called up RD and he came by as soon as he could. He offered to drive me to the hospital, but I refused - I didn't think I could tolerate the movement. He called 911. I could only hear one side of the conversation, but since RD was relaying all the questions to me I knew what they were asking:
911 Operator: "What's the problem?"
RD: "My friend is not well and needs to go to the hospital."
Op: "Can he move?" (RD to me:"Can you move?" Me: "No!")
Op: "Is there any blood?" (RD to me: "Is there any blood?" Me: "No!")
Op: "Can he talk?" (RD to me:"Can you...") "Yes, he can talk."
RD: "Can you send an ambulance?" And she said, sure, they could.

The ambulance showed up soon and the EMTs came in and established that I was not prepared to raise my head or move in any way. They strapped me to a stretcher and took me in. (A minor disappointment is that they saw no reason to turn on the siren on the way to the hospital.) RD was going to follow in his car and just as he was about to leave, Sanjay came out and asked if he could tag along.

I was wheeled into the ER and nurses and doctors milled about. Eventually I got the diagnosis - most likely an inner ear infection. Nothing to be done, except to sleep it off and oh, here is a prescription for some Codeine. I was feeling less nauseous now and walked out to the waiting room where Sanjay was waiting with his own diagnosis - confirmed chicken pox. RD drove us both home with a stop at a pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions. A rather miserable week ensued with both of us struggling to fend for ourselves. Meanwhile the one guy who could have helped us - our third roommate Rahul - was enjoying his visit to Boulder. Oh sure, he expressed his sympathies by email and wished he could be there. But it all turned out ok: As soon as he came back from his trip, he came down with Chicken Pox.