quote for the day

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In the wake of today’s eschatologically relieving sideshow, I found myself checking the bookshelves at Mom & Dad’s house this afternoon, needing something to read while taking a little break. I pulled down In the Days of the Comet by H.G. Wells, and found this epigraph, from Hellas by Shelley.
 
The World’s Great Age begins anew,
     The Golden Years return,
The Earth doth like a Snake renew
     Her Winter Skin outworn:
Heaven smiles, and Faith and Empires gleam
Like Wrecks of a Dissolving Dream.
 
Wait, read it again, OK?  Then read the last couplet again. Wow.

the results are in

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First, you need to know that the ultrasound machine does not, it turns out, play The Dead. Guess that would just be too ironic.
 
They didn’t find any actual stones in my gallbladder, which is good. But I got sludge. In my gallbladder . Seems this is the stuff that turns into gallstones. Playdoh that’s still in the can. 
 
So I don’t need surgery, at least not now. Wait and see. What will be. Que sera sera.  Doc says I should consult with a specialist — just in case, I guess — and I’ll think about that.
 
Gotta really really watch what I eat. No fatty foods.
 
Doctor says there’s no medicine for this. But I did some googling and found a drug that’s used to prevent gallstones in people who are obese and losing tons of weight. Sounds like the stuff I need, doesn’t it?
 
Anyhoo, the fat lady ain’t sung yet, so to speak, so we’ll see.
 
This post didn’t turn out to be about what you thought, did it? 
 

who is this guy?

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Bush is still speaking, saying that the Democrats’ spirit is such that they want to protect America, that Democrats are going to stay the course in Iraq, support the troops, etc.  This can’t be the same guy who said the opposite about the Democrats during the election. He said our side was going to leave America unprotected from Terror, cut & run from Iraq and didn’t care about the troops. I think the networks need more cameras in these press conferences, so we can see all of Bush’s faces.

whoa nellie

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What a nail biter, huh? Right on the edge of my seat, am I. My team has taken back the house from the Philistines, but the senate is in a dead heat, 49 to 49. So if those go to the Dems, woo hoo! Even if they don’t, at least the balance of arrogance has definitely shifted.

And by the way, that flatulent little sound you heard tonight was the noxious effluvium of neocon thought, wafting our the back door.

a long walk home

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Today is the birthday of the writer Charles Frazier. He was born in North Carolina in 1950. He wrote Cold Mountain, one of the most  rich and beautiful books I’ve read. And I have read quite a lot of books, and all of them slowly and carefully. Frazier’s desire to write – generally – was born out his sense of loss of North Carolinian culture and environment. The arc of his story was born in family history. In any case, it’s a fine book, and I have read it – slowly and carefully – three times. He used all the right words, in the right order.

i’m back i think

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I took an unscheduled break for a few days there. I really hope I don’t need another break like that.
 
Everything was going along fine until late Tuesday night. I had been out for a walk through the neighborhood whilst the trickers were treating – or whatever – and all the kids seemed to be having a good time. Stopped to chat with our security guard a couple of blocks over. Watched some tube, went to bed about the witching hour. And along about two o’clock … See, I’ve been having these attacks of upper abdominal pain at night. Usually, it lasts 2 or 3 hours and subsides, but this one lasted all night, past dawn. Really bad. 
 
I wound up at the Urgent Care in the early morning – my Dad took me. Thanks Dad!  They got me in a treatment room immediately and I was in there for 2 hours.  The did an EKG, which was normal, and xrays – also OK. So having ruled out heart attack and intestinal blockage, they’re thinking gallbladder. I have to get an ultrasound on Monday. 
 
But anyway, I’m feeling alright now. Whatever it is doesn’t bother me much in the mornings. And it is a beautiful Saturday morning. Soft light on the dusty window blinds. Just outside, seagulls are making psychotic noises. And the garbage truck is coming up the alley, spewing diesel and tossing dumpsters around like legos. Ah, autumn.