It’s back to work again. I didn’t mind though things got better for me yesterday with Julio and Stine and Juan. Julio who knows me well enough for the past 20 or so years, knew what he had to do. He and Stine had me over for burgers last night for diner and I hung out with them for a few hours, talking about how Frank is, how I am, and how Julio dealt with his father’s passing a few years ago. It was a good talk for me and I guess for Julio. Julio also hit the nail on the head, which was the fact that I was feeling so badly about Frank because of the guilt of having my meltdown at the Arcade Fire show.
That was true and I also heard the same thing from Juan who didn’t exactly know how to broach the subject. Of course, Julio has 20 years of dealing with me under his belt (same with Pedro, they both worry about me and know that something is up when they speak to me on the phone), so Julio can come right out and say it. Juan was a little more cautious which is understandable. Juan made me a cd of songs that he knew I would like or at least be interested in and he was right on the money with that. Don’t know if there’s any messages in what he burned for me but it definitely sounds great on the iPod walking to and from work.
Bill was at his folks last night because his father had an MRI to be performed at the VA hospital. So that meant I was sleeping alone after Juan split. I slept really well despite waking up at 4:00. That was no problem as I went right back to sleep, awaking once again before the alarm clock. I did eventually get out of bed, showered, shaved and had some cereal and was out the door, headed to the bus. Got into the city in no time, and I listened to the Black Keys singing She Said, She Said which is an admirable cover and despite what Juan says, is not better than the Fabs version, and I’m sure he knows that deep down.
Got to work after listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as I took a short cut through Grand Central Station. It provided a great soundtrack to the visual of the morning hustle and bustle of commuters going to their offices. Almost as good as that scene in the Fisher King, though I really couldn’t tell you what role I would have played, but I’m sure I would have been dancing. Everyone at work caught up with what they did over the weekend and then they asked me how Frank was doing. I told them what I knew without giving too much away, don’t want to turn into Debbie Downer. After that, the day ended fast enough and I walked to the bus terminal, smoking a Padron 5000 and listening to Coco Rosie which is another track from the cd and so far, my favorite.
Check This Out
cut and paste
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/5/28/123944/992
The War Prayer by Mark Twain
from jockohomo
War Prayer Face of the Dead
May 28th, 2007 | Category: warriors, usmc, war
Compelling animated video of Mark Twain’s War Prayer posted on The Grist. The short story is a scathing indictment of war, and particularly of blind patriotic and religious fervor as motivations for war. A Wikipedia entry notes “The piece was left unpublished by Mark Twain at his death, largely due to pressure from his family, who feared that the story would be considered sacrilegious. Twain’s publisher and other friends also discouraged him from publishing it. Twain instructed for it to be published after his death, however, and is said to have quipped ‘I don’t think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth.’
Not that anyone is ALLOWED to put a face on the dead siting the military’s coercive and unworkable 11(a) of IAW Change 3, DoD Directive 5122.5: “Names, video, identifiable written/oral descriptions or identifiable photographs of wounded service members will not be released without the service member’s prior written consent.” This means that memorials for those courageous that have lost their lives in Iraq can no longer be shown, even when the unit in question invites coverage.