• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crushing Krisis

The Newest Oldest Blog In New Zealand

  • Archive
  • DC Guides
    • DC New 52
    • DC Events
    • DC Rebirth
    • Batman Guide
  • Marvel Guides
    • Omnibus & Oversize Hardcover DB
    • Marvel Events
  • Star Wars Guide
    • Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)
    • Legends Comics (1977 – 2014)
  • Valiant Guides
  • Contact!
You are here: Home / consume / comic books / Richard

Richard

October 26, 2006 by krisis

My headache began a few days ago as a pair of too-wide yawns. The first flexed the right side of my jaw a little too far, and with the second there was a slightly audible crackle of bones being uncooperative. “Stop trying to unhinge your Jaw,” Elise said, “you don’t have to eat those rabbits all in one piece.”

Yes, my girlfriend is amusing.

The ache persisted for a few days, and by last night it was on the move – the pain slithered in to my mouth, up to my temple, and down the side of my neck. The ache became the headache, which in turn became one of the top three worst headaches of my life. (Another is here).

The headache is so persistent and distinct that I feel as though it is some separate entity – a symbiote – inflicting its will on me. It is like Spidey’s black suit, attached to me at the jaw, trying to envelop my entire head so that it can control my brain.

For sanity’s sake, I have named it. Meet my headache, Richard. You can call it Rick for short.

This is an important distinction for me: I am not my pain, and visa versa. I refuse to walk into work defined by a headache, or anything else, for that matter. On the outside I am committed to being my same vivid self, no matter the interior conditions.

(I would compare this to stepping onto the stage, but that analogy has the negative connotation attached to it from the time I tried to sublimate my 103 fever for a dress rehearsal but wound up with Bronchitis and Pneumonia. Because, you see, a fever is not just a symptom, it’s a condition, and you are your conditions.)

I’ve been surrounded by lots of headache sufferers in my life – a certain ex convinced it could be a brain tumor, and two former bosses whose headaches increased sensitivity to light and destroyed appetites.

My thinking on the matter is that pain is just a perception – just another sense. And, in the same way you can tune out a droning noise or adapt to a familiar smell, you can work your perception around pain. Certainly, some pain is of a source and magnitude much too high to ignore; after all, you can’t exactly tune out a jackhammer.

Richard will not be reaching jackhammer significance in my life. Because, unless some part of my is cracked or broken or abcessed, Rick is just an illusion of my perception. I can tune out Richard just like screening a call. He could just be an itch, or a tickle, or a gnat.

Richard has no magnitude because, there is no Richard. He’s just a yawn that got too wide. As easily as he interrupted my sleep and made me late for work he is banished back into the ether from whence he came.

Related posts:

  1. free and clear

Filed Under: comic books, elise, essays, health, Year 07

Previous Post: « Success to the successful… oh, nevermind.
Next Post: Candy Says »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Crushing Krisis » Happy Birthday To This says:
    August 26, 2007 at 4:23 pm

    […] Year 7 of Crushing Krisis includes a slew of favorite posts. I cursed at the television. I had a headache so profound that I gave it a name. I reinvented myself for NaBloPoMo. I recounted my first heartbreak. During a single Trio I redefined one of my favorite songs, and debuted one that had been incubating for half a decade. […]

Primary Sidebar


Support Crushing Krisis on Patreon
Support CK
on Patreon


Follow me on Twitter Contact me Watch me on Youtube Subscribe to the CK RSS Feed

About CK

About Crushing Krisis
About My Music
About Your Author
Blog Archive
Comics Blogs Only
Contact Krisis
Terms & Conditions

Crushing Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Events Guide

Marvel Omnibus Guide

Spider-Man Guide

DC Comics

  • RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2, Episode 1 – Cagey Queens: Review & Power Ranking
    In "Cagey Queens," The queens of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under are challenged to find the humor in a particularly bad script for a prison show. […]
  • Drag Race France Season 1 Episode 7 – Sororité makeover challenge: Review & Power Ranking
    It's a Drag Race France makeover challenge! The final four queens proved so up to the task that they were forced into a sudden-death lip sync. […]
  • Canada’s Drag Race Season 3 Episode 4 – Bitch Stole My Look: Review & Power Ranking
    Every Canada's Drag Race queen received an identical box of materials for the "Bitch Stole My Look" design challenge - but who stole the show? […]
  • Guide to DC Comics Lucifer – now available to the public!
    Is DC Comics' Lucifer more of a Tom Ellis or a Gwendoline Christie? Find out for yourself with my comprehensive Guide to Lucifer comics! […]
  • Updated: Guide to The Sandman Universe
    Want to read the source material for Netflix's adaptation of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman? My Guide to The Sandman Universe covers it all! […]
  • D&D 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Round-Up: ZineQuest 2022, Cute Creatures Compendium, US National Park maps, & more!
    There are a monstrous 24 new D&D 5e-Compatible projects on Kickstarter this week thanks to ZineQuest 2022! I dig into 8 of the best (& silliest) of them. […]
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2, Episode 1 – Grand Opening: Review & Power Ranking
    It's the RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Grand Opening as our 10 Aussie & Kiwi queens compete in one of the toughest design challenges, ever! […]
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 7 – Every All-Winners Lip Sync Ranked!
    We've reached the end of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars All-Winners, which gave us *17* lip syncs. But, were the 6 in the final tournament the best? […]
  • Drag Race France Season 1 Episode 6 – Un Parfum de Drag: Review & Power Ranking
    The five five queens of Drag Race France take on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 5's classic perfume branding challenge and a haute couture runway. […]
  • Canada’s Drag Race Season 3 Episode 3 – Ruets: Review & Power Ranking
    The queens of Canada's Drag Race pair off for "Ruet" performances to RuPaul's most famous duet tracks, then serve Sleeves on the runway. […]

Layout copyright © 2017 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

Links from Crushing Krisis to retailer websites may be in the form of affiliate links. If you purchase through an affiliate link I will receive a minor credit as your referrer. My credit does not affect your purchase price. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), eBay Partner Network, and iTunes Affiliate Program.