Holy Coma, Batman!

Last night I attended the first Document Design class at UCSD. One down, five more to go! I got there late, since Clarence didn't show up to drive me until almost 6, and the class starts at 6:30. If this keeps up, I am petitioning my Rehab counselor for a driver/personal assistant.

The class itself is full to the gills. Not an inch to spare, body to body in little rows of desks. I am hoping to learn from the course, what makes a compelling, attractive document. Last night was mostly about theory, which might be summed up as, "what is document design and why is it important?" The instructor seems like a knowledgable, decent guy. The tiny slides he kept pointing to were not highly visible from the back of the class, unfortunately.

I didn't really achieve the feeling I was amongst a collegial group of writers. For one thing, when I returned from our 10-minute break, only two people besides me brought coffee back with them! The rest had their bland little bottles of water poised neatly by their books. No coffee, no writer! Sayeth my hero, Honoré de Balzac!

At the Zoo

Yesterday morning, Joe and I took a drive downtown to the zoo in Balboa Park. We left my home in Mira Mesa about 10:30 and got to the zoo around 11:00. After a half hour of standing in line to renew my membership, we finally passed through the zoo's opening gates and strolled around. The first thing we did was head to the Treehouse restaurant and have lunch. We ate the chili, which was served in one of those sourdough breat bowls. Tasty enough, for restaurant-zoo food.

Lacking a lot of time after the lunch, we went part-way down the next hill, past the bear and lion enclosures, but did not make it as far as the new tiger exhibit. Passed the monkeys along the way, but did not stay to observe them. We got back home around 2:00 and Joe left.

My parents came over later in the evening and we had the Italian Feast meal from Taste of Italy, a local restaurant that has been here in Mira Mesa as long as we have (we moved here in 1977 from Clairmont, another San Diego neighborhood). For a movie, we watched the first "Spider Man," which my parents had not seen. Next week, we will watch the second Spider Man film on DVD.

This coming Wednesday, I will start my first technical communications class; the subject matter is document design. The book was already sold out of UCSD's bookstore, so I ordered it from Barnes & Noble and got it delivered by UPS within 4 days, free shipping. I e-mailed Sheila Johnson, my Rehab counselor, so I could get reimbursed for the book's $50.00 cost, but have not heard back from her yet. I hope she is not on leave again!

Father's Day Sunday

I went with my parents to Mass on Sunday and then we went to brunch at Callahan's, the "Irish" pub in Mira Mesa. We sat outside and ate our meals in the pleasant, sunny but not too warm weather. I had a frittata, which is sort of an open-faced omelette filled with cheese, potatoes and bacon. Very good!

L'aventure quotidienne

Today I took a trip over to Barnes & Noble in Mira Mesa with Joe. We arrived about 1:30 and had coffee at the Starbucks inside while Joe perused a Chilton's repair manual for the Ford Taurus. I ate a turkey wrap, which was quite good, drank a latte and enjoyed the time out.

Last night my parents came over and we watched the new DVD release, "Beyond the Sea," which is Kevins Spacey's bio pic of Bobby Darin. Kevin did a great job--he is an actor who can really sing! He also directed the film, as well as starred in it. The movie was a very touching tribute to the late singer, who died of a heart condition in 1973 at the age of 37. Usually those singers of "standards" make me queasy. Something about those violin-laden refrains, the perfectly timed trombones, etc. But Darin went beyond the stereotype. He had an indefinable edge, a heartfelt reality, that transcended the lounge music medium.

The weather today was beautiful. Low 70s, sunny with just a hint of clouds. I love June in San Diego! Last year I could only view it from a hospital window, which made this year even sweeter.

On Thursday I went and saw Dr. Landers at Sharp Memorial. He was pleased with my improvement and promised to speak to an endocrinologist about some kind of treatment that could make my bones denser. As usual, I am unconvinced that any therapy they could offer would be worth the cost, risk and potentential side effects. But, it's worth investigating!

My van is running well; Harold got the steering wheel on straight finally (the nimrods at the body shop had attached it one bolt off-center). The vehicle is filthy on the outside. I want to call my detailer, Clint and get him to scrub off the grime. It hasn't been cleaned since the body shop got done with it, and we had a hell of a winter this year (over 23 inches of rain during the El Nino).

Tomorrow is Father's Day! Go forth and celebrate with your family!

David

Of Violence and the I-Word

I was watching a History Channel program today, part of the network's "Old West Tech" series hosted by David Carradine. This episode was titled "Massacre Tech," and covered several Old West incidents of mass murder. The first incident discussed was a massacre of miners in 1913 by Rockefeller's henchmen and militia troops under the command of the then-governor of Colorado. Later, the program covered the "Mountain Medows Massacre" in Utah in the 1850s.

Earlier on another history channel was the program on Australia, "Beyond the Fatal Shore." It covered how Australia gained its independence through, of all things, democratic elections and a negotiated settlement with British Parliament.

These two programs made me think. Certainly US history has been more "exciting" than Australian. Our history makes for great TV and movies. Civil War epics, Old West sagas, Mel Gibson cavorting through "The Patriot." Bloodshed, massacres, slavery, rebellion, piracy, wars of imperial conquest (Indian Wars, Mexican War, Spanish Amerian War). Ours is a nation founded and sustained by blood. Somewhat like the old Aztecs, we periodically require a blood sacrifice to strengthen and prove our might.

So, in the 2000s we have the Iraq War. A trumped-up disaster wrought by a coalition of the same folks whose ancesters brought us to many of our other wars: Big Money Capitalism, Religious Fundamentalism, Jingoistic Patriotism. All meeting their great "Dark Lord" in the grinning monkey face of George W. Bush.

It's time Congress begin impeachment proceedings against both Bush and the Vice President. Our blood and treasure is being drained away in a Neo-Con crusade that has not made us safer. Osama and his pals want us out of the Middle East. I say, why not oblige him? We should leave those countries to themselves. (By this I do not mean that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda should escape just retribution. But we need to face the unwelcome fact that violence alone will not solve the conundrums facing East nor West). They eventually will sort out their problems in a way suitable for their cultures. We should also divest ourselves from Israel. I am personally very sympathetic towards Israel and its cause. But our undue protection of that tiny country has led directly to our present-day crises.

For more on the Downing Street Memos, check out the following Web sites:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

http://www.thenation.com/

http://www.rawstory.com/

Stuff and Nonsense

It's June here in San Diego, and the month always brings its own special characteristic grayness. For those who think in terms of the typical seasons they might have experienced on the East Coast or Midwest, San Diego "has no seasons." Actually it has two: a rainy season and a dry season. But, there are buffer seasons, like late-Spring "May Gray" and "June Gloom." Right now we are full-on into June Gloom. The sun has not peeked out from behind the gray marine layer all day, and probably won't. This weather, which some might call depressing, I enjoy. I'll miss it in July!

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to work on my novel and do all the usual things, like call doctors' billing agencies to straighten out medical invoices. As soon as I get new postage stamps, I will be sending out more short fiction to various markets.

No Man Is Just a Number

Last night, ABC reran the first episode of "Lost." I still haven't figured out the show, and that's frustrating. I can usually detect a plot within the first 5-20 minutes of any movie or television program. I think the main reason why is that the whole series spends so much time backtracking, via flashbacks, rather than projecting the story though ongoing action in the fictional present.

Anyway, thinking about "Lost" also got me to considering an old series from the 60s, "The Prisoner," starring and created by Patrick McGoohan. There are similarities, whether intentional or not, I cannot say. I bet the writers of "Lost" have seen a few "Prisoner" episodes, however.

First of all, both stories take place in a mysterious "Erewhon" environment. An Island that seems out of place and out of time. In both series, the island is not the simple place it appears to be at first contact. Machiavellian, Darwinian and Kafka-esque forces pull the strings behind the curtain. The castaways and Number 6 are there for a reason--a reason not revealed. In both cases, they cannot escape their emprisonment. "Rover" lurks the Village; the mysterious, as yet unseen "Monster" prowls the castaways' terrain. The Monster is a security system; that much has been revealed.

More thoughts on this later. Dinner is served at the Chez David.