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for a short week, this one has been odd enough. life just keeps coming at you, there's no stopping it ... until it stops ... and that could, in fact, be the theme of the week. if i let it be. monday morning before homeroom. an interesting progression of announcements over the school's brand spanking new p. a. system, not verbatim: "there is an odor of gas in the science wing. teachers please open your classroom windows and doors to air it out." "if any student feels affected by the gas odor please come to the south offices." "science teachers please report to your classrooms." "any students who are bothered by the gas odor should go to the lounge and remain there." "we are now asking all teachers and students to go to the lounge and cafeteria area. please clear all of the halls immediately and proceed to the lounge. teachers, please assist in this orderly movement to the lounge area." from there all 1300+ of us were herded into the auxilliary gym. and in half an hour the principal arrived to explain that a new gas line to the science labs had sprung a leak; the gas had been turned off; the fire department had been called; and, while there was no real danger, the odor would linger. thus we would all be sent home. gas day. on wednesday it snowed, but not enough. no snow day. it didn't matter. my mind was elsewhere. my mind was elsewhere because the doctor had called on tuesday night just before dinner to tell me that my recent blood test indicates a high cholesterol level. he recommends lipitor. i concur. he will phone in the prescription to my local famous national neighborhood drugstore chain (LFNNDC). but he didn't. until today, friday. so on wednesday and thursday i travelled over to said LFNNDC only to be told that the doctor had not called yet. and, of course, i was calling the doctor's office and leaving messages. today i have my wonder drug (generic name: atorvastatin). i will take my first pill before sleep tonight. a little oval pill that acts in the liver to block the enzymes ("statins"?) there that produce cholesterol. when, after about two weeks, the liver realizes it's not glomping out any cholesterol, it starts sucking it out of the blood stream. cool. except......doctor says all of this fancy footwork in the liver can cause some kind of hepatitus -- so we've got to have regular blood tests to catch that before it happens. but you know all this. maybe you're on this stuff yourself. millions of americans are doing it, why not me too? well.... i don't like to think of myself as one of those millions who need it. but i guess i do. i guess i am. i've avoided red meat, in fact all mammal meat, since sometime in 1988 when i learned that my numbers were borderline. i began and maintained a very regular and fairly intense exercise program from about 1994 to 1999 (until i was so rudely ejected from joliet). i haven't eaten a donut since when? (alright i've fallen a tiny bit there) but those who know me would agree that i have been mr. skimmilkfatfree everything for a very long time. most of the time. does bingeing on christmas cookies count? of course it does. still ... over the past two and half years i've let things slide, haven't done the regular doctor thing, exercised well enough during the summers but let it drop during the school year (been blaming it all on a certain jerk in joliet, but that's nonsense of course). the way of all flesh. don't worry about me. i could keel over any second, but so could you. it's all a glorious crap shoot (can i be a good christian brother and believe this? i think so). i feel fine. really. and it's time to wake up. in other news: senior ap english is reading ralph ellison's invisible man. always an astonishing chunk of art ... even moreso on reading #3 ("Come out of the fog, young man.") sophs are all out on the big muddy with huck and jim ("It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.") by the way, i read this week that the milky way - our milky way - is 80,000 light years long (or something like that). chomp on that number for awhile. one light year = 6 trillion miles. juniors are busy pretending that they don't really have to work too hard to succeed in our current film research paper project. we have not been helped by very erratic schedules and a bevy of "street scenes holidays" (individually chosen free days) mostly taken yesterday and this coming tuesday (on which i MUST introduce key elements of the research process even if there are only three people in class. we've got to finish this sucker within the third quarter.) the other day my excellent big sister mary therese sent me a very nice christmas gift (i don't deserve her kindnesses). a t-shirt. illustration: edward gorey cat sprawled on its back atop a pile of books. text: cats. books. life is good. and it is. thanks, mt. |
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