It's the Good Ship Robert E. Lee

It's raining out; pretty heavy. Lucky for me I was smart and went out for my run earlier--before the rain began. At the park, I saw a lot of Canadian Geese and one was stymied by some plastic Easter grass crap that hobbled him/her. Too bad I couldn't let him/her know I'd love to release him/her from the plastic shackles. I hope that when it flies, it loosens and falls a bit.

I'm learning that we're really a terrible genus. Or species. What was I listening to? Some Erich From book (Erich Fromm The Art of Being). It's not that great. I have a difficult time following it.  He's no Dale Carnegie. I love Dale Carnegie--that traveling shyster salesman! Although even traveling salesmen can know a little bit. Dale Carnegie's books are a lot like the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous. They're all the same: riddled with truth and beauty.

I'm also listening to The Moon and Sixpence by M. Somerset Maugham. I'm sure I got his name wrong. Of Human Bondage is one of my all-time favorites so I thought I'd give it a go. Hell, it's free off enypl.org.  The price was/is right. The guy who reads it is the same guy who read David Copperfield. Funny how I get used to voices. I don't know if I could listen to Jim Dale (who reads the Harry Potter books) do anything other than Harry Potter. Well, I've listened to Jim Dale read Alice in Wonderland and Around the World in 80 Days--just because he reads them!

Alice in Wonderland isn't necessarily my favorite book, but it's a cultural touchstone that I think everyone should have some passable knowledge of. The Cheshire Cat. The Mad Hatter. I wasn't crazy about Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. What a piece of fan fiction garbage was that? Thank goodness I saw it in 3D. At least I have that.

So sensitive lately. Take a lot of things personally. Laura says I'm like Bambi: Yes, that's a very good analogy. I'm taking off the training wheels but I'm 13 years behind everyone else. Everyone else has been roughened by this world and I'm just pink and sensitive--emerging from the cocoon. I really do fantasize about going to New Orleans and getting a small apartment in the Quarter and eating red beans and rice and getting a job with Lucky Dogs. I want to live in a shotgun house like Ignatius and his mother.