Why I'll Be Dead by June 27th

I'm falling apart. Everything's going to shit, and my immune system is about to go on vacation.

Monday, I was feeling a little queezy and didn't go to work. I felt I got better, but I got a slight cough.

The cough seems to have turned into a full blown flu. Runny nose, aching all over, and the slight cough turned into major, body-wracking hacks.

Some of you know I have a chronic back problem. So one of these coughs threw my back out yesterday. I could still walk, though, and function quite normally. Basically, the full pain hadn't set in yet--like when you stub your toe, but the pain doesn't hit for awhile. So why not go to the gym? I went to the gym and started doing the body-sculpting class. Halfway through, things didn't seem to be going so well down in the lumbar area. I left.

At this point, I now have the beginnings of a flu and my back is basically out. But other than that, I've still got my health.

I called a friend, whose name we'll say is Tabernacle. She was about to go walk her dog and wanted to see if I wanted to meet for a cup of coffee. Off I went to see her and meet her dog--Pablo. Pablo's a big Goddamn bulldog. Lots of energy. Very muscular. These dogs--they don't seem to like it when you fuck with them.

LATER:
"OW!"

"What?"

"Nothing. I think...Yeah, I think he bit me."

And in fact, there really was no doubt. Pablo had in fact bit me. He bit my finger, and indeed almost bit it right off had I not realized, 'Wait a second...He doesn't seem to be playing.' Blood didn't SPURT out so much as it wouldn't stop. C'est la vie. She swears her dog's shots are up to date. And the blood HAS started to stop (though this happened about 20 hours ago). Of course, this is all due to my own retardation. I guess it's kind of fun to tease dogs until they try to bite off your fucking digits.

At the rate I'm falling apart, I figure I'll be completely dead by June 27th. But I won't mind, because I predict I'll fall into a coma around the 21st.

The Gaming Gang
I was walking to the grocery store today (though I really shouldn't walk or carry heavy items like frozen chicken). At the end of the street (near Colorado and Sierra Madre) is a gaming shop. No not video games; we're talking D&D, Magic, and other wierd shit like that. And these gamers hang out there pretty much 24-7. I've walked by and looked in the window at 2 AM and there's always people there playing. Always.

Today, I walked by them as they hung out in the parking lot behind the store, apparently taking a gaming break. They drank cokes and talked animatedly about gaming. One of them had what looked like what was supposed to be a representation of a light saber. After the grocery store, I was walking back to my apartment and I walked by these people. The guy with the light saber appeared to be doing some 'mad moves' in the parking lot, and the other gamers watched him with a mixture of delight and envy. He swung that plastic flourescent bar around like a man who'd watched Star Wars enough times to KNOW. This guy was obviously their...dare I say?...hero. They must have felt this guy really knew his shit with the light saber. He could have gotten any bitch (there was only one I saw) in that parking lot. To them, perhaps he was the closest thing to a Jedi they had.

But outside that parking lot, it was a different story. He was just some tool swinging around a plastic light saber.

Isn't that tragically poetic?