|
contours provocations
journal - 2001-0512 - sat 1930 Azaleas, Antibiotics, The Devil and Johnny, Mouse, Out and About Two weekends ago, I became very industrious and did a number of inside and otuside chores. The outside ones centered around some prunning of some very scraggly and overgrown azaleas. Over time they become unruly with long shoots among a mass of dead limbs. There was a group near my front door in desperate need of attention. I trimmed, cut, clipped, thinned and cropped as I stood, bent and crawled. Finally, it was done. After about 20 minutes, I knew I'd made a mistake because of the pollen and dust. A few days later, I woke up not feeling well, so I stayed home. Since I'd heard several stories lately of the problems of the over-prescription of antibiotics, I thought I'd try to avoid going to the doctor. And by last weekend, I felt better. On Tuesday of this week, I woke up feeling terrible. But I thought I'd try to be a valiant trooper and go to work. By the time I arrived, I felt much worse, turned around, came home and went to bed. In the afternoon, I did what I should have done the previous week: I went to the doctor. As usual, my sleeping patterns went wildly astray. Tuesday night, I could not go to sleep until after 2, and then Wednesday night, I was still up at 4! Thursday night, I slipped off around 2. Yesterday, I went to work but felt exhausted. Then last night, it was around 4 before sleep came. I guess there should be some type of closure to this sad tale. Maybe, it's time to buy that ticket to Lourdes. I'm watching Johnny Depp in "The Ninth Gate," another one of those "The Devil Made Me Do It" sagas. Without his presence, I doubt if I'd watch it. Have you ever known a satanic story that did not contain a scene with performers in hooded costumes? All the more convenient for the protagonist to penetrate the required develish rituals. You'd think the cabals would catch on. Last Sunday, Showtime aired the first segment of "Further Tales of the City." I'd read that it was not up to the original. But it was fine to me. I'd forgotten how enjoyable the characters were. Olympia Dukais is a jewel. Mouse is hunky and adorable. And I've always loved the storyline about the Rock-Hudson-like figure. Oh, and it was good to see Joel Gray again. And there was Bruce from "Kids in the Hall" fame as Father Paddy. The one point I noticed was how tame it seems after "Queer as Folk." Today was somewhere between uneventful and unremarkable. I had lunch at the Japanese place which was very crowded. I had to flatten myself against the wall even to be able to eat the sushi bar. I took the car by one of those quick-oil-change places and was in and out in a flash. (Two or three of the places have opened recently along the Interstate, so the customer base is spread out more.) Next, I stopped off for a waffle cone of vanilla yogurt. Then, I zipped by the locally-owned bookstore to see if they had a novel I saw reviewed in "The New Yorker." And they did. I read a couple of chapters earlier, and I can tell it's going to be most worthwhile. PAX!
|