The Saga

Ah, UT baseball is finally getting an upgraded facility.

***

I studied like Rain Man for last night’s appraisal/assessment mid-term. Hard class for sure, and you know, I had some anxiety about taking a big test in a class about how to give tests. See what I’m getting at? All kinds of potential for … chicanery! Shenanigans!

Just wanted to use those words.

But it went well. I think I got an A, unless I screwed up the math, in which case a B will do.

***

I ran five miles Wednesday night. Man the human body is a strange machine. Mechanically things were great. No knee pain, no hip pain, nothing. But two miles in it was clear my stamina was shot. On a cool night with the body otherwise cooperating I still had to just tough out five miles. I’m still waiting for the elusive “runner’s high” (which probably occurs at greater distances), but let me tell you being DONE with that run felt great!

***

Ah, Mr. J Prowse told me recently he’s keeping up with my saga (did he call it a “self improvement saga”? Can’t recall for sure) via this humble site.

Saga… that would explain all these Hobbits.

But you know, I can see what he means. In the process of living one’s life, well, I guess sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees.

I mean, I know there’s some order, some direction, some plan to all this stuff I’m doing. But it just feels like the routine, just one day after another. Does that make any sense? I mean, this “saga” word, aside from bringing to mind some 80s rock band, sounds like there’s a PLOT.

I’m probably not conveying what I mean very well. Let me take another approach:

I participated some years ago in a chat with author Jerry Stahl. He wrote Permanent Midnight (ah, another junkie memoir for my shelves… so many of my heroes are addicts it’s not even funny), I, Fatty, and is (or was, at least) a contributing writer on CSI. I asked him probably the best interview question I’ll ever come up with: By writing about his life, was he in retrospect lending an order and meaning to things that didn’t seem to have them at the time?

He gave a good answer, saying that indeed he had. And like a lot of us, in the middle of those times—his were hectic with drugs, though it’d be similar for anyone I guess—it’s not like he saw direction, connections or meaning.

So it took time for him to achieve perspective. I suppose it takes either time or someone else’s perspective to point out, sometimes, that there’s a bigger picture.

(See what you started, Purr?)

***

Ugh… another test tomorrow, and it could be a bad one. Nervous as I was about appraisal/assessment, I chose to focus on that exam all week. Only last night did I start to review for lifespan development. Lots of material, and some difficult concepts.

After that I’ll be quite ready to have some fun tomorrow night at Kellipalooza 40.

Happy birthday, hon. You wear it well.

(Note to anyone coming to the party: If you want to bring an unannounced guest, feel free. We're just a pinch shy on the headcount, so we might as well do what we can to get the food eaten, right?)