Something hit me like a freight train late on Sunday. It started brewing in my guts and then spun into my head. I couldn’t sleep, I was sweating and my head buzzed. My stomach was in complete turmoil and I spent several hours sitting on the toilet. Monday was hellish. The lack of sleep coupled with the fever and stomach cramps made work practically impossible. I came home at lunch time and slept for two straight hours – shivering and shaking under the covers. After the nap, I decided I’d mustered enough energy to head back into the office for a few more hours. The afternoon was better and once I made it home everything was fine. My stomach was calming down. Trish had a fire going and there was a pot of rice on the stove. I ate gentle foods, watched television and wondered at the strange foreign invader that had rampaged through my system and then disappeared as quickly as it had come on. This morning I feel just fine – a little bit tired, my stomach slightly uneasy – but a hundred times better than yesterday morning at this same time.
Saturday was a day of racing. The 50-1 long-shot “Mine That Bird,” ridden by jockey Calvin Borel, took home the roses at the 135th Kentucky Derby. Borel’s post-race interview bought me to tears as the ever-emotive 42-year old with Cajun roots spoke of his deceased parents and how proud they would’ve been if they were there to see their son have success in the greatest race of the year.
That same evening Nascar superstar Kyle Busch took the checkered flag at the Richmond 400 on the evening of his 24th birthday. Busch is only the second Nascar driver to ever win a race on his birthday – the other is Cale Yarborough, who accomplished that feat not once, but twice during his illustrious racing career. By the time you read this the Darlington 500 will be in the books.
Sweet Thursday
Speaking of books I stumbled across a John Steinbeck novel called “Sweet Thursday” the other day. This is a sequel I never knew existed to one of my all-time favorite Steinbeck books “Cannery Row.” The story picks up on the adventures and exploits of the characters who inhabit Monterey’s cannery row. It is a good, fast read and I found myself laughing out loud and even shedding a few tears when it was over.
What’s in a Name?
I also saw a fantastic film over the weekend called “Rachel Getting Married.” Trish picked it up and I have to say, when I saw the title and that it starred Anne Hathaway I rolled my eyes and almost thought out loud: “chick flick.” But this couldn’t have been further from the truth! The movie turns out to be a tense drama about a self-centered addict sister named Kym who gets out of rehab to attend her sister Rachel’s wedding. Her reprieve from rehab takes everyone off-guard and over the course of the film the complex, intertwining circumstances that lead all the character to where they are now are revealed in layers. It is a nail-biter from start to finish. I really think this is one of the best films I have seen ever, and frankly I am perplexed by the film’s title. It doesn’t represent anything about the film. I don’t know what it could’ve been called – but it feels almost like they got to the end of the process and then just sort of said “call it whatever.” Maybe they’d lost faith in the film. I don’t know – but it is good. Check it out if you’re looking for a really provocative glimpse into a well-intentioned but extremely flawed family.
The Male Birth Control Injection
Apparently science has come up with an injection that temporarily sterilizes men in such a manner that they could go off the injection and father children if that was their desire. Personally I would’ve been all for this back when I was a free and single man. Right now I have no such worries or issues – I’ve opted for an even more effective and permanent solution to the problem of pro-creation. But hey – I’m all for more birth control in this here over-populated world of ours.
Isn’t it funny – we have on the one-hand all these folks going to incredible, expensive measures in order to pro-create: surrogacy, in-vitro fertilization, etc.; and then we have all these other folks who seems to pro-create at the drop of a hat. It feels like there is an answer in there somewhere and that it starts with an “a” and ends with “doption,” but who am I to say?
madbob@madbob.com
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