Given how this blog began, it seems appropriate to eavesdrop again on Josh Friedman’s great blog, which had been about anything but cancer, but life tossed the screenwriter a major plot-twist, unbidden:
I do not believe in God, and I do not believe in fate. The last two months have been tough on this particular atheist, but as an infinite monkey I have little choice but to bow down to the powers of natural selection and mutation, even when it’s happening inside my own body. There are those who suggest a greater power must be looking out for me. But the greatest power I know was doing last minute post-production on Munich so I didn’t bother calling on him, either.
I do believe in poker. I was addicted to cards, and so I quit. But they converted me to their ways. I believe in math, random chance, probability, and mostly, luck. Professional card players understand that poker is short-term luck (good and bad) eventually balanced out by long-term skill. Living, more likely, is long-term luck balanced out with occasional bouts of short-term skill. In this case, the luck is all mine and the skill belongs to those who found my tumor and took it out.
I did not fight cancer and I certainly did not beat cancer. One night cancer came and grabbed me hard by the arm, yanked me down the stairs and stood over me on the landing while I begged for mercy and waited for the rain of blows to come. Some did, enough for me to know I couldn’t have withstood the whole barrage.
And then without explanation it disappeared. And let me live. Like some monsters do.
Incidentally, if you don’t normally read I find your lack of faith disturbing, it’s probably the most interesting blog out there, for my money. Other than, you know, mine, which is riveting.
This was a nice surprise when I got home from work: A new Lost podcast waiting for me in iTunes (via Juice, of course).
Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse share exclusive clues and preview upcoming episode “The 23rd Psalm.” Also, composer Michael Giacchino talks about the behind-the-scenes scoring of Lost.
Bitchin’.
A joke from my father-in-law:
A C-130 was en route to a mission when a cocky F-16 pilot flew up next to him.
The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, “watch this!” He went into a barrel roll, followed by a steep climb, then finished with a sonic boom when he reached the speed of sound.
The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought.
The C-130 pilot responded “that was impressive, but watch this.”
The C-130 droned along for about 15 minutes then the 130 pilot came back on and said, “what did you think about that?”
The 16 pilot asked, “what did you do?”
The C-130 pilot responded, “I got up, stretched my legs, went to the back, poured a cup of coffee and took a piss. Any questions?”
Tracie Troha has a much bigger story than it might appear to be in Saturday’s Daily Press.
Those who know Postmus best say they were not surprised by his decision.
“I always knew he wanted to move to a more administrative office,” said Hesperia Councilman Jim Lindley. “I think he can do some real justice for taxpayers in the office.”
Lindley said as supervisor, Postmus’ job was to make policy and let county staff execute it. If elected to county assessor, Postmus will have an opportunity to actually work on some of the policies he created.
Victorville Mayor Mike Rothschild, who has made no secret about his interest in being on the Board of Supervisors, said if Postmus was elected assessor he would consider running for the First District seat.
“I haven’t made any decision,” Rothschild said. “I wouldn’t run unless (Postmus) is definitely out of the picture. I’ll have to wait to know for sure.”
If he lost the election, however, Postmus said he would continue to serve his two remaining years on the board.
I think Rothschild is only one of a handful of possible candidates, and I think Postmus’ position potentially opening up could lead to some very interesting moves among High Desert power blocs and casts a very interesting light over this year’s city council election. We’ll be reading more about this in the months to come, I’m sure, and sometimes from unexpected angles.
 Jenn and I went to the new Wendy’s at Main Street and I Avenue for lunch today.
This is a bigger deal than it might seem. Hesperia used to have a Wendy’s years ago, but it closed down long before I came here. I think the building, closer to downtown, might still be vacant, I can’t recall. There’s now one far, far to the west, at a truck stop on I-15 (Main Street traffic makes it further than it might appear to be), but that’s hardly convenient (and, frankly, it’s hard to drive past In-N-Out to get a hamburger somewhere else). As a result, Jenn is crazy for Wendy’s. My medical tests in 2004 taking place in Apple Valley had a silver lining: “We can stop and get you Wendy’s after.” (I had a real loss of appetite at the height of my first sarcoidosis episode.) I just like them because they’re a lot less common out here than they were on the east coast.
In any case, the new location is open, and has the cleanliness and customer service that you typically only get when the regional managers are in the kitchen with you, training everyone. (That’s not totally true, though: The Baker’s across from In-N-Out at Main Street and I-15 has tables you could perform surgery on and astonishingly good customer service, particularly for a fast food restaurant.) Wendy’s has moved away from the old fashioned classified ads on tables and as wallpaper and the new store has an interesting (although not necessarily convincingly functional) use of smoked glass to divide the relatively small eating area up.
Since everyone’s just getting trained up, none of Wendy’s limited time items are available, but everything was tasty and delicious. It’s very nice getting another option on Main Street. Naturally, it comes just as Jenn and I are talking about eating better and working out again in the new year.
- Speaking of sarcoidosis, it’s been a little more than a week that I’ve been on the Prevacid NarpaPAC and so far, it’s been great. No heartburn whatsoever, either from the painkillers or otherwise, and while it hasn’t completely eliminated my joint pain, it’s made a significant dent in it. This looks like a good solution until my situation gets dramatically worse.
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