Zap Session

So this morning was the first day of radiation.

But before I get to that: when did "so" become a discourse particle? At the beginning of a sentence it used to mean "thus" or "therefore", and I guess it evolved to "And to continue my story..." which I guess is how I'm using it here and below. But now it seems to have become an opening pause word, adding some color, but with no real content. Maybe it's the more grown-up version of "like." If so, not for me:

Like, this morning was the first day of radiation.

It was kind of creepy. You are shirtless, flat on your back on a hard surface, with a gizmo that positions the neck and head. The mask they fabricated for the occasion is placed on your puss and screwed down tight. Very tight, so much so that it closed my eyes and mouth and as a result, a frisson of panic. Quickly I realized I could still breathe and the 20-something tech ladies were saying the right things. (And thinking, geez, another geezer - when are we going to get a hunky guy?) No big mercy, though. They intend to immobilize the head and neck, and they do.

Then for 20 minutes or so they rotate the ray guns around and you hear squeaks and see lights flash and things are repositioned and then the tech ladies return and say it's over. For today.

They keep a pretty rudimentary boom box off to the left, and today's offering was Elton John. I have nothing at all against Elton John. Indeed I have great memories of "Your Song" from college, and back then he really was a revelation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTa8U0Wa0q8.

The opening number was "Philadelphia Freedom", never before a favorite, but it has that "shine a light, shine a light" refrain which seemed to fit. After today I get to bring in my own music and I hope to impress the tech ladies with blasts of, like, Eldar, Back Door Slam, and Richard Thompson.