Blackbeard
A pirate is running for Congress in Iowa. Every day I fight the urge to drink, debauch women out of wed-lock and beat people on the street. One urge I do not have is to sell myself to the highest bidder. I see new accounts every day. These ‘men’ who sell their influence like common whores. Duke Cunningham and his bribe menu sound familiar? William Jefferson with $90.000 k in his freezer ring a bell? I would have your wife right in front of you. I would smoke the last of your glaucoma medication. Then I will surely drink your liquor cabinet dry. However, know this my friend. I will never break an oath to uphold the public trust. My affidavit will be signed in my own blood. A Pirates crimson mark, with real binding effects into my after life. Laugh...
Rain Trek
Forecast for the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia this weekend? Real good chance of rain. We’re planning on taking our first ever backpacking trip, and I’ve spent a fortune on top of the line gear (we plan on doing a lot more of this). I hope the rain doesn’t come too heavy, but if it does it won’t stop us.
Bracketing Pain
I’ve regained my coherency. I lay in bed for most of the afternoon, not feeling incoherent, just extremely uncomfortable. Soaking up the blood with gauze, listening to classical music, and trying to process my feelings toward and about the pain. There was an awful time when the anesthetic had worn off and I hadn’t got my medication yet. I don’t think I’d make a very good soldier, and I’m sure how long I could last with some sort of terminal disease. The pain (and I doubt it was objectively as bad as lots of things people routinely go through) was stupefying; it demanded complete attention and left me not knowing what to do. I tried to concentrate on other parts of my body that felt fine (my knee feels great, my arms are in good...
Check Marks
I’m hungry and I feel a vague sense of doom. The cold air last night provided some delicious atmospheric rejuvenation; fall approaches soon. Richard Adams argues that people like cold weather because it tends to make them feel more clever in their ability to survive and overcome it. I think he has something there. I’ve been reading the Hobbit outloud to Britt in the evenings. There is something immeasurably satisfying about reading aloud, though it takes much longer. No food or drink after midnight. It’s time to go home.
Deductive Dentistry
If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom then my tetra-impactions prove that wisdom in at least one of its forms is only semi-natural and may cause catastrophic pain. Alas, all of my wisdom teeth will be forcibly removed on Thursday morn. So where will that leave me? Perhaps pondering the inevitability of textual deductive distortion, which really seems to throw philosophy on its ear, or better–popping pain-killers and watermelon while listening to books on tape. Suggestions?