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Lou Pickney's Online Commentary

On Edge

Wednesday
December 19, 2007

I've watched the new ABC game show series Duel with great interest. I talked with producers via e-mail about appearing on the program, though they ultimately decided not to fly me out to Los Angeles for it. It's too bad; I think I would have done quite well on the show. I appreciate ABC promoting the program via advertising on Draft King, though I would have watched (and written about it) regardless.

The show is intriguing in how they set up the contestant vs. contestant battle and how it all plays into winning a big jackpot. Much like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ushered in the big jackpot era of TV gameshows, perhaps Duel can bring in the competitive edge that many recent network shows have lacked.

Mike Greenberg (of ESPN) does a good job as the host, though he is overly polite at times and had a couple of crutch phrases (such as "fair enough") early on. But this is new territory for him, so I'm sure he'll settle into the role in time. I think it would be hilarious if they had instead put Mike Golic in the role as host. Maybe if the show takes off they'll do that as a one-off joke or something.

For me right now, it's the best of times, it's the worst of times. Or something like that. For me, life right now is a blur between great/logical and terrible/inexplicable.

On the good side of the ledger: I have a job I love (running Draft King as a full-time operation), which allows me to work any hours I want, and which has been successful as far as exceeding the number of hits that I anticipated by this point. My commute time is as long as it takes me to roll out of bed. Watching football is part of my job, which is flabbergasting. I'm in my hometown, with plenty of friends and family nearby. I have a gym nearby that I visit frequently, usually at least 5 times a week. I'm tanner than I've ever been in my life.

On the bad side: the neck spasms in my neck continually torture me. Of course, it sure beats migraine headaches (and yes, my forthcoming migraine website is still in production), but the two for me are intertwined. What can I do when the medicine doesn't work, or at least doesn't work as well?

Insomnia plagues me, and when I sleep I often have vivid, horrible, lasting nightmares, sometimes accompanied by sleep paralysis. Because some of the medicine I take to fight my muscle spasms makes me drowsy, I find myself taking naps sometimes, which can exacerbate the problem. Not fun, not at all.

I've found myself feeling near manic at times, with bouts of irritability that rival any I've ever had. An intense workout does nothing to alleviate the rage that burns inside of me (trust me, I've tried), so it's not like it's pent up energy. Shit, even the xanax hasn't been helping, and that is a sure sign that something is seriously wrong.

I think it has to do with being hungry and trying to fight through it; I end up with that low blood sugar anger that I usually have when I wake up (and I've had since I was a kid), only it sticks with me all day long. And with my days and nights beginning to run together uncomfortably, things make little sense.

Though perhaps I've figured it out: tonight I ate like a king after I got in from the gym, and I went from uber-irritable to feeling normal. I'm going to go a little easy on the whole "smaller portions" thing for now and see if my state of mind benefits. Otherwise, I don't know what I'll do.


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