RandomCha

Merry Fitzmas! And the best part of Fitzmas is that IT LASTS LONGER THAN ONE DAY! (He’s not through with Rove yet).

To All Those Who Voted Against Bush: you’re getting what you want.
To All Those Who Voted For Bush: you’re getting what you deserve.

I skipped the gym after work and went to Binny’s to stock up on stuff for the bar. After putting everything away I meesed around online for awhile. Then I plugged my iPod into the stereo and had a bubble bath. That made me sleepy so I got into my pyjamas (it was 5.30) and took a half-hour nap. Woke up ravenously hungry so I had chips & dip, and then some cereal. Then I had a mug of warm milk with coffee. I sat down at the computer and worked on the manuscript for half an hour. I started pacing around. Not quite knowing what to do, I made myself a cosmo. Then I plunked down in front of the TV and watched the first hour of “Psycho.” Andy came hom from class. He ate the rest of the stew and we talked a little. Then he checked his email and I flipped through “Our Universe: the National Geogrpahic Picture Atlas.” Then we talked some more. Then it was time for bed. I fell asleep easily.

I had Sox fever. I watched most of the last three games. I drove Andy crazy. Bush caved. People keep dying. Protests, complacency, side by side. It’s not three o’clock yet. I’m listening to Leonard Cohen siging “Bird on the Wire.” I want to see the DVD of “The Wizard of Oz.” I want to see “Good Night, and Good Luck.” I sort of want a different job. Work somewhere else, write. But then there’s the paycheck. Thinking about riding on the train, the Dawn Powell book I’m reading. I’m thinking that perhaps instead of going to the gym after work I will instead go liquor shopping. I still don’t have an ending to my book. The closest I’ve come so far: “Finally, he began to cry.”

carolynapplebee: a quick congrats on the gus van sant thang– jesus! maybe he’ll make a movie out of it
carolynapplebee: good work my man
randomc75: hah god only knows
randomc75: i wouldnt mind though i dont like his movies hehe
carolynapplebee: haha
carolynapplebee: you’ll soon be living in your own private idaho

I think our best, only really competent salesperson is being fired at the moment because he “lacks motivation.” All of his accounts were taken away from him three months ago, forcing him to start from scratch. Why does it have to be like this? I understand why things ARE this way (in the business world) but why DO THEY HAVE TO BE? Answer: they don’t. Things DON’T need to be this way. Certainly not a non-profit office. Damn it.

email today from my contact at Powells Books in Portland:

Rob,
This is crazy but yesterday I saw Gus Van Sant (the famous director
who lives in Portland) at the store. I don’t know him so I just sort
of watched him a little out of the corner of my eyes as I shelved
books nearby. He picked up 100 Spinning Plates and bought it! He had
about 4 other books in his basket but hey–maybe he’s reading it
right now!

Just thought you’d like to know.

Kevin

Oh wow! I just read in the NY Times that “Where The Wild Things Are,” by Maurice Sendak is being made into a film, directed by Spike Jonez from a screenplay by Jones and Dave Eggers! Holy moley! I worshipped the book when I was a kid. If it’s gonna be made into a film then THAT’S the way to go.

Joey keeps getting better. We visited him this afternoon. They were able to remove his respirator and so he’s breathing completely on his own! A day ahead of schedule! He was wearing a supplemental oxygen mask because he’s still very weak. His throat is painfully dry, so he still can’t really talk, but he was grunting a little. Grunting is a good sign. Tomorrow they will try giving him some real food, which will be the first he’s had in about 10 days. The docs have him doing some leg stretching exercises while lying in bed. He still has a fever, but everything else is much improved.

We chatted with him for awhile and I told him a little about svenny‘s party last night, and I told him I drank a few screwdrivers for him. Then he grimaced and pointed to his spellchart (it’s sort of like a Ouija board with numbers, the alpahabet and other common phrases so that people who can’t talk can still communicate). We gave him the chart and then he spelled out “NO MORE DRINKING.” Cripe! I suppose what that means is that they’ve told him he won’t be able to drink anymore, because of the liver damage he’s sustained. No more smoking either. Or brownies. So i joked with him that we’d buy him a juice extractor when he gets home. V8 from now on.

He seemed frustrated by not being able to speak. But of course. I remember from my own time as a patient that being in the hospital is basically, well, very boring. Time passes and there’s nothing to do, you can’t look outside, and you just lie there. People visiting you, and the nurses giving you shots or a fresh drip are usually the most exciting parts of your day. Andy asked him if it helped him to have us visiting him and he nodded excitedly. I told him we’d be back tomorrow evening. And he reached out for our hands and held them for awhile as we said goodbye.

Andy & I visited Joey last night and he’s doing better! They’ve been able to reduce both the percentage of oxygen through the respirator and the amount of sedatives they’re giving him. His skin color is much better. We talked with his mom a little and she told us that, according to the docs, if he keeps improving they should be able to take him off the respirator altogether on Monday.

The really good thing is that when we visited him and stood bedside, he opened his eyes a little and nodded at us. I prattled on with stupid jokes, trying to be funny, and he was definitely responsive. He even greeted us with the sarcastic eyebrow raise that you friends of Joey should know so well. He was, of course, too weak to do much else. But he was definitely conscious. We stayed and talked at him for about fifteen minutes. It was really encouraging to see him looking better.

I’m going to visit him again this afternoon.

How am I going to make it until 5? I HATE the late shift. Time goes sooooooooooo slow.