First post o'the day

Brought to you by a thoughtful question from tafkak, who's been chatting with mortality monkeys again. The question is: If you were to be told today that you had just five weeks to live, and that for most of that time you would feel pretty good and not be in a lot of pain, what would you do with the time?

I don't want romantic answers, or fanciful answers. If you say something that's pretty much out of character, I won't believe you. Don't lie to yourself. I'm really looking for thoughful responses.


My answer, written without thinking about it too much because, well, it's morning:

The first thing that comes to mind is that I would have to surround myself with friends. Either I would beg for transportation to get to all my far-flung friends one or two at a time, or I would convince them to come to me. If I'm dying in five weeks and there's no escaping it, lack of money is no excuse--I'm going to have people around me whether they had other plans or not.

And then what would I do? Depends who I'm with and what's going on in their lives, really, but I know I'd enjoy my friends' company as much as I could. We must listen to music, enjoy good food or good junk food, visit museums, visit parks, look around with eyes wide open.

I'd still have to take time out to be alone, read a little, write a little, play with graphics a bit. In five weeks, I wouldn't leave any Grand Masterpiece behind, but I don't see myself being idle either. My solitude would likely be filled with much angsting and weeping and snot-filled tissues. I hope I could find a way to enjoy life in those last days rather than sit around mourning my lost chances. If I'm ever in that situation, we'll find out what happens.

Rambly tired posting

I've been exhausted today, taking two hours for a nap which is nearly unheard of for me. I remember as a kid I could sleep in for hours, but take a nap in the middle of the day? No! You can't make me! Though I still have the unescapable feeling that I'm missing something, my eyes simply wouldn't stay open. Such a shame, seeing it was such a beautiful day.

One bad habit I developed while computerless: Overeating. I really need to get out of that habit--am feeling rather icky after eating about 1000 calories' worth of sour cream & onion potato chips.

Another bad habit: Watching too much TV. Fortunately, breaking the habit of watching morning "news" programs was easy--there's only so much Martha Stewart "news" I can take. I do have a favorite television network now, though: MHz. Even if I don't understand a word, news in Russian or Polish is infinitely better than any other daytime broadcast TV around here.

Yesterday's accomplishments: Doing laundry in spite of all the air and discoloration in the water pipes. Walking to the grocery store. Walking home from the grocery store with groceries. Finally plugging headphones into the new computer to confirm that yes, I really did install the sound card and drivers correctly. Yay me!

Tuesday: Cool, breezy, simply gorgeous day. Water on our street was scheduled to be turned off for seven hours, so it seemed like a most excellent day to go elsewhere. After walking a woman and her daughter to a local nursery (she hadn't been able to catch the right bus and was unsure of where she should go), I wandered to the bank to take out ten dollars for my outing. As I walked, I found new reason to be grateful I live on a hill--the front lawn of a house near some water pipes being worked on was flooded, several inches of water hiding the grass and the bases of some things in the yard. It was actually a beautiful sight, but I doubt the property owner was in a position to appreciate it.

Took the Metro down to the Smithsonian station so I could wander the Mall and enjoy the sunshine, blue skies, and tree pollen. Visited the Freer gallery for a bit (the guard who searched my bag had a look and an accent which must make him subject to many more searches than most people), but it was a better day for being outside than inside. So I walked a while, cursing my shoes for the blisters they were raising yet almost enjoying the walk anyway. Spent way too much money on lunch which, having paid for by the pound, I insisted on ingesting in its entirety even down to the overcooked chicken bones.

After lunch, it was obvious that I couldn't walk much more without weeping and gnashing of teeth, so I limped onto Metro again and went to a Borders bookstore where I read for hours & hours until I judged that it was safe to go back home.

I shall now resist the urge to bore you to death by continuing to go back in time and narrate non-adventures between now and the day of my birth. But I do need to say one more thing: While I was offline and computerless, I saw a double rainbow. I followed it in search of the pot of gold, but it only led me to the corner drug store.