Who Am I?

The title was actually a title of a Jackie Chan film. In the movie, he had amnesia (loss of memory), and didn't remember who he was. As most Jackie Chan movies go, it was entertaining, but not a deep film. I believe I have been on a lifetime journey (so far) to discover who I am. So far, I have found a path to blunder along on, but I have no idea where it will take me. But wherever it goes, I imagine I won't get to the end in my lifetime. And that's probably a good thing. It means I will always have somewwhere to go. As someone once said, it's not the destination that matters, it's the journey. And I can say, it's been quite a journey. I have met many people along the way, as well as seeing many strange, beautiful, and not so beautiful places. Of course, I have learned a little about myself. Some good, some bad, and some I don't know what to make of. Actually, there's a lot of that last category. But without the people I have met and known along the way, my feeling is, that my journey would be pointless. Even though all human experience is dependent upon the individual, and is a very personal thing, we are all connected, regardless of what we believe. And thank God, the Universe, or whatever the h#*! you please, for that. Left completely on my own, I would find my life's journey mind numbingly dull. Besides other people being more interesting, maybe it is through other people, our friends, our family, and even perfect strangers, that we learn about ourselves. Just a thought. So...Who are you?

Looks Like A Friday At Home With Edgar

Well, it appears that I will not be at the Library on Friday. I am not in any pain, but my body's fight against this upper-respiratory infection is draining all my energy. So my new plan is to stay home and rest for the next few days.
I am sorry that I will miss everyone for the rest of the week, but I suppose it's better to let my body rest and recover. So, until next week, take care, and stay out of trouble!

I've Been Mugged by a Sore Throat

I was minding my own business, jogging down the street a few days ago, when out of nowhere, I was attacked by a passing virus. It seemed at the time that I was able to fight it off after an hour or two, after which, I forgot about it. Until today.
It seems that this virus was playing dead while it incubated (developed from a tiny baby virus into one mean son-of-a-beechnut). At about 11 am today it attacked in force, which forced me to go see my doctor, who gave me a perscription for antibiotics, told me to drink a lot of fluids, and stay home and rest.
So, just to let anyone who needs to know, know:
I WILL NOT BE IN THE LIBRARY BOTH WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, MARCH 23RD & MARCH 24TH. BUT I AM PLANNING ON BEING THERE ON FRIDAY THE 25TH.
I have fluids to drink, books to read, and Edgar to keep me company, so I will be fine. It only hurts when I swallow. But I do have honey and Hall's cough drops to help with that.
So take care, be well, and be very careful when you are out there in the world. You never know when a deliquent virus is lying in wait, in order to ambush you, as you happen by.

Language is kinda' like Music

I was wandering in the southwestern Sahara Desert a while back. I had been trying to get to Mozambique, and somehow took a wrong turn. Before you know it, I was completely lost, and could only see sand for miles and miles.
Well, to make a long story short, I probably would have died there, but I was rescued by an African bushman, who, I guess you could say, was the closest you could come to an expert on surviving in the Sahara. Anyway, he did manage to get me back to civilization before he vanished back into the African wilderness.
The point of all this, is that communication was a rather difficult affair between myself and my African friend. The bushman language is composed not just of the usual phonetic language sounds, but also a series of clicking noises as well. If you can think of most western languages as different forms of popular music, for instance, English upon occasion can have a kind of countryish rock'n'roll sound to it. French can sound a bit like a soft romantic musical language, while Chinese (I am thinking more of Cantonese than Mandarin, here) can sound like a crazy Eastern Opera, if you can imagine such. So, Bushman I think, would sound like progressive jazz (a loosely structured kind of jazz music), which even lovers of jazz have a hard time understanding, or appreciating, in many cases.
But all in all, it was surely one of my more interesting adventures, of which, in order to protect the innocent as well as those not so innocent, I can tell you no more.
So, as the famous fictional character, Forest Gump, would say: That's all I have to say about that.

No Library for Me Today, Thursday March 17th

Well, just a short note. I won't be at the Library today. I had a bit of a stomach ailment last night, and didn't get much sleep. So today, I will be hanging out at home with Edgar.
Not to worry, I'm fine now. Just very tired. I will be at the Library tomorrow. And maybe if I gather up some energy I'll be able to do a longer blog post later on today.
Enjoy the beautiful day, wherever you are!

Everybody in the Pool

It's been doin' some raining here. I'm getting ready to swim to the Library. Since I didn't get out to jog this morning, it will be great exercise. I'm trying to find my wet suit (full body covering used mainly for scuba diving), since it's a little chilly for just a swimsuit.
But even with flood warnings up in some parts of the state, we are a lot better off than Japan, where they had a very strong earthquake. I have a cousin living there with his Japanese wife. I really hope they are ok.
Early this morning, shortly after the earthquake in Japan, tsunami warnings were issued in Hawaii, as well as along the west coast of the US. It does make a little, even a lot, of rain seem insignificant. Compared to the life and death worries in Japan, swimming to the Library seems like a piece of cake.
Every day that I don't wake up dead, is a very fine day. We should always appreciate, and take advantage, of whatever moments of life we have.

Has Anybody Seen Where I Put My Brain?

I must apologize for being so sporadic (inconsistent) with my blog. I have been having a bit of a flare-up of my chronic fatique syndrome for a while now. As a result, a lot of the things I should be keeping up with...well, let's just say, I haven't been doing a good job of it.
Of course, this current flare-up will settle down, and my immune system disorder will go back to its usual background level. And I will be able to get back into the swing of doing all those wonderful little things like cleaning house regularly, exercising (also regularly), and being able to spend more time studying Chinese, among other things I should be keeping up with.
I did get a lot of sleep last night, but it was split sleep. I woke up a couple of times during the night, and wasn't able to get back to sleep right away. But I didn't wake up the final time until 9 am, which is very late for me. Now, however, because of all the sleep, my body feels very lethargic (slow and tired). And that's ok. It's a good excuse to take it easy, drink tea, read the paper, and do some pleasure reading. Edgar, I'm sure, will also get a bit of attention. Who knows? Maybe I'll even practice a little Chinese.
The world turns, and life goes on. We are all in the same boat. So live, laugh, and love.
And, as always, stay out of trouble.

Aarrrhg! The Limitations of the Flesh (body)...

I haven't been sleeping well lately, which is not all that unusual. It is a symptom of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which is the immune sytem disease I have. But it does make life a bit difficult. Because of my "on and off" inability to get a decent amount of sleep, my exercise also becomes inconsistent, which has an impact on how I function, both physically and mentally. Sometimes it can truly be a problem.
Even though I got out of bed by 7:30 am, I almost didn't make it to my 10:30 Chinese class. As it was, I was about 10 minutes late. I know I am almost always a couple of minutes late, but trust me, 10 minutes is the latest I've ever been to my Saturday morning class.
Some good friends of mine here (in Norwich) are going down to visit my good friends in Pennsylvania, and they are inviting me to go. My first reaction, of course is to go, because I miss my friends, and would really like to see them. The problem is, we would leave here at about 5 am, which means I would have to be up at about 2 am in order to get myself ready, and to get edgar up, and prepare his cage, food and water to get him through the day. Then, we wouldn't get back until around 11 pm.
Before I became ill with chronic fatigue syndrome, this still would have been a long and tough day, but I would have said yes without hesitation. Well, maybe a slight hesitation. But now, when I have to consider it realistically, I know physically I just can't do it. Or at least, I wouldn't be able to do it without a minimum of a handful of days to recover, and a definite risk of getting good and sick, which would stretch recovery time to weeks.
When I go to NECON (Northeast Writer's Conference) once a year, I leave between 9 and 10 am, and get back between 10:30 and 11 pm. And less than 3 hours of that is in my car. This is always on a Friday, and I always arrange to have at least 3-4 days afterwards to recover. The odds are that for those 3 or 4 days I won't be capable of doing much of anything, except going from the bed to the couch, and back again.
The hardest part of this disease is always remaining aware of how fragile my health is, and doing my best to not overextend my physical capablilities. I would like to pretend (and sometimes do) that I am not sick, and that I am a completely healthy 29 year old (sshhh...don't tell anyone I'm not 29). Unfortunately, I'm not either.
And of course, I feel terrible that I cannot go to see my friends in Pennsylvania. Life really isn't fair. But I knew that already.
Anyway, as tough as chronic fatigue syndrome can be, there are diseases and conditions that are much, much worse. So, if I am complaining too much, I apologize. I know I am very lucky in many ways. It's just that, sometimes, this disease prevents me from doing things that I would really like to do. It's terrible to have to be a responsible adult, even if it's only for my own wellbeing. It's much easier to be irresponsible, but then there are always consequences, and usually not pleasant ones.
Like I said, life is often unfair. But since the alternative is being dead, I think I will continue to choose life.
So, enjoy the day, and your lives, my friends. As the quote goes, "Every day above ground is a good one." Zai Jian! (Goodbye in Chinese) Or, Hasta Luego! (Until later, in Spanish)