Clement's Resolve

‘John Bayley?’
‘Elegy for Iris’ says the old man.
‘A novel or non-fiction?’
‘It’s a memoir about a woman who died of Alzheimer’s.’
The young man stops his questioning for a few seconds to recall the fact that the old man’s wife is in a nursing home for the same disease.
‘I just hope that if it ever happens to me I’ll have the good sense to blow my brains out,’ continues the old man during the short pause. The young man gives a cute and awkward smirk and the two walk towards the front of the coffee shop.
‘I’m serious,’ comes the old man’s straight conversation closer.
The two break off, the old man complimenting a young lady on having a Macintosh laptop. The young man leaves the shop, gets on his bike and rides home.
‘I didn’t smirk because I thought he was joking, and it wasn’t so much because it was an awkward statement,’ says the young man in his head, ‘It was more because I agree with him and appreciate his honesty.’
The young man knows the old man to be the plain honest type. His favorite novels include Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Andersen and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. He wants to publish a novel he himself has written called Trotville, Ohio. The young man has the first two chapters in his possession and is reminded to finish the second chapter and return them next time he sees the old man come into the coffee shop. He knows that the old man gets up quite early every morning to get coffee in his travel mug and catch the bus to the nursing home to see his ailing wife, whom he has loved over fifty years. He used to write sports journalism in Dayton, Ohio. He has been a Mac lover since Apple II, one of the first personal computers made by Macintosh back in the early eighties. He wants to blow his brains out if he gets Alzheimer’s. This is the short list of facts the young man has compiled about the old man.

The young man, on the other hand, knows no facts about himself.

Frigid.

This morning driving to work the bank's digital time and temperature display said it was 4 degrees. Some kids at school said that it was 9 below. Our Norther Neighbors, 4 degrees is like 16 below.

I can't believe it. But with sun and no wind, somehow it is bearable.

The weather is as cold and bleak as my emotions these days.

-=o0o=-

I finished Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al Franken. Totally compelling and entertaining -- and, at times, irreverant -- to the very end. It is interesting to note, as I mentioned in my last post, that it was a local Catholic high school that led me to read the book. I saw it on the shelf in the history class I was substituting that day. From the moment I started reading it, I was drawn in. I read at every chance I got. When I left that day and had to leave it behind, I was determined to get it at the library. That was last Thursday, less than a week ago. So I read the book fast. But then, books that are so-called "page-turners" are not necessarily the greatest writing out there, just written in such a fashion as to draw you in. Another book that falls in this category is Harry Potter. I've been reading the second book in fits and spurts over the past couple days. I read the first over a year ago and declared that I would not read another one.

I have not idea what I am saying by all of this and I've probably lost most of you. Oh well. I'll write about Clem now.

Adieu.

A li'l footnote.

Today while substituting a U.S. History class at the local Catholic College Preparatory High School, I came across Al Franken's Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, which, by the way, I first saw in the airport bookstore a few years ago (which was during a time when I wasn't allowed to even have the appearance of having liberal leanings).

Anyway, I picked it up and read it. I was so obsessed with it that I even checked it out from the library as they were closing tonight. Perhaps my favorite part, so far for I've read perhaps only a fourth of it, is a graphic novel-esque story called "The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus." It is quite savvy and witty and fairly frightening. I'm sure our Northern Neighbors would especially appreciate it.

Check it out.

A rock genius in the making.

Cheryl asked (in a comment on the post "Cheap Entertainment") if Jude is as musical as ever. That is a resounding Yes! But what's funnier and cooler is that he'll pretend to not only put on a concert, but even have a recording set-up to record it all (and he seems more concerned with how it will be recorded than with the actual composition of the song). His mikes and guitars are the rolls of wrapping paper Elise brought home from Ikea. The recording equipment is the many spools of thread necessary for Elise's serger.

He's a funny kid. He was walking through Ikea with Elise and naming the artist of the particular song playing over the speakers. "That's Coldplay... U2... Moby." Now you know what music he likes. I don't know if he'll ever get any kind of classical music education, but he'll certainly know the ropes when it comes to rock'n'roll.

A little noise.

Yeah, good old Sufjan (pronounced "Soof-yahn" by the way) is basically rocking the world of folk and indie rock in one fell swoop. He's even captured the heart of my original source of good music, Andy W. (Elise's brother-in-law). Andy is a hard-sell for artists like Sufjan, but when he titles his latest album after your home state, what can you do?

I was at Hope as a freshman while Sufjan was a senior. He was in a band called Marzuki which I saw a couple times and really liked. Who knew that he'd be the biggest thing since Simon & Garfunkel? (Okay, that is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration.)