Plague; Rain; Fluffy Critters; "Push"; "Burnt MOney"; Nathan Reed

This has been a month in which I've been plagued with upper respiratory problems. Worse than usual. Actually, I think it's a single problem that never exactly goes away. What always bothers me the most is how it alters my pereception: common events irritate, a friendly discussion turns hostile, the world is flat and dull. It's taken me a long time to realize why and how this happens. So I guess I can take some cold comfort in that.

It was also the day I decided to go to the doctor. My headache was so bad I couldn't even read my copy of "Wired" as I sat in the waiting room. When I stopped at Walgreens to get my prescription filled, their computers were down. On the way out, I noticed a bin of tiny stuffed animals that I found irresistibly cute. I started to buy several, but I knew I was coming back, so I waited. After lunch, I returned and pawed through the menagerie and wound up with a brown and white kitten, a multi-colored toucan, a brown fluffy squirrel, and three orange and white penguins. Three, because I knew two co-workers would like them. At luck would have it, the computers were still down.

Once back at work, I slipped the penguins to the two co-workers. As I sat at my desk, I figured that if I were not already sick, I would be now after half-a-dozen trips in the rain. A co-worker thanked me for the penguin but immediately wanted the squirrel. After work, I headed back to Walgreens for the third time. I plunged my grubby mitts into the pile of wee beasties and found a second squirrel. And a cute squirrel it is. Praise be to the goddess, the computers were working. So I took my little bag of pills and adorable squirrel and scampered back into the rain.

Of course, there are so many slants one could take on the program that it is difficult to decide what's a clue and what's not. "Push" is one of the programs tracked at Television Without Pity which offers recaps, spoilers, trivia, snarky comments and observations about a group of "cult" programs. In you wander through the "Push" discussion group, you'll encounter ever imaginable theory on the program.

It is certainly not an easy show to follow. And most of the time, I'm not certain what's happening. But it is does have a striking visual style. A lead actor that looks amazingly like Anthony Perkins. And a auto repairer named "Job" whose shirt is always open to reveal a body covered in tatoos. Oh, "Push" is really big on tatoos.

For several years, I checked Barnes and Noble and Amazon to see if another in the series had been published. In July or August, I discovered "The Cutbank Path" was out. It is now 1952 and Nathan and boyfriend, Steve, are living in a house in the Hollywood Hills. But McCarthyism is defiling the country, so Steve is soon fired from his school-teacher job.

In early September, I finally placed an order with Amazon, and experienced a number of bizarre delays. But when I got home Thursday, in the rain, there was a slighly damp box by my back door. After a quick din din, the cats and I gathered around to sniff at the box. Well, not exactly, they sniffed, and I opened. And there is was at last: "The Cutback Path" - A Nathan Reed Novel - Joseph Hansen.

I tired to read a little Thursday evening, but felt so lousy I gave up. So this evening, I've read the first few pages and had that boyhood thrill one experiences when you read something you love.

PAX!