An interesting day so far – one that has had both positive and not-so-positive attributes. On the positive side, I have had quite the relaxing day. A couple of movies, a load of laundry, nothing too stressful or demanding. Plus, there has been time for writing, and a (small) breakthrough in one of the stories that I’m crafting. In case you’re curious, for the most part, these posts are simply spewed forth – there’s not a whole lot of editing that goes on with them. They’re more of a “here’s a small portal into the cyclone spinning in my brain at this particular second” kind of thing, rather than any sort of reasoned, articulated prose. Perhaps someday I’ll revisit some of this work and revise it. “On Residual Self-Image” or “Righteous Indignation” might be worth submitting to Tricycle or another similar magazine in the future, I suppose. Worth a shot anyway.
But, as I mentioned in “Righteous Indignation,” I am a storyteller by avocation. As Robert Frost once wrote1:
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
So, there are some writings that I edit endlessly. Yes, I know, so many creative writing instructors would posit that one’s first draft should be for oneself only, that the most important aspect at that stage of the process is to get the essentials of the story onto paper. I’m improving, albeit gradually, at this. And, as of today, the missing element from the story that – at this point – is the lead contender for first manuscript that I’ll actually finish fell into place; and I got some good work done. And this makes me happy. So there has been much positive about today.
As for the not-so-positive (keep in mind, I’m not saying negative, and that’s deliberate), there have been a few oddities today, almost entirely physical. When I woke this morning, I realized that I could feel where my teeth used to be on the right side of my mouth. There is this odd sensation between absence and itch where my molars were. It’s not painful, but it is present enough to be disconcerting and annoying. Couple with that sensation the increasing itch from the sutures that have not yet dissolved and I start getting a bit stir crazy.
Plus, I’m hungry. This probably isn’t a surprise to anyone; of course I’m hungry. I’m on a liquid diet. My concern is that when the first shipment of liquid sustenance arrived at the house it was of a different brand than that with which I was sent home from the hospital. Normally, I wouldn’t think too much of it, but there’s a 125 calorie difference in the two. With this new formula (doesn’t that just conjure up images of babies and cuteness?) I’m down 750 calories per day. This doesn’t sound healthy to me, so I’m taking both cans in to my follow-up appointment Wednesday morning to ask for some clarification. Until then, I think I’m going to run to the store, buy a gallon of ice cream – the real stuff, none of the low-fat, sugar-free nonsense – let it melt, and then try feeding that through the tube. Should be a fun experiment. I could even try blending up some peanut butter cups into really small pieces, adding them to the mix, and ingesting the whole thing. Then I would try to burp. That way I get at least a little of the satisfaction with the flavors.
I know. I’m a twisted little puppy sometimes. Every now and then, I really think I need to get back to the office. This much free time on my hands and I’ll end up with some really wacky ideas.
As far as I know, there are no big plans for the evening. I might push myself to do one more load of laundry, but after that I’ll be done with the whole productivity thing for the day. Hey, I’m allowed; I’m recuperating, here. If anything interesting happens, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Take care of each other.
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1 – From the poem Two Tramps in Mud Time. I told you I was an English major.
