Fools in April 2020

3/29/2020: Up at about 2:30 AM. Tried to get to sleep again, but no go. More obsessive straightening (I wouldn’t call it cleaning) and rearranging, and planning in my head what to do tomorrow. Prayers, Bible. Went to bed about 4 AM, setting the clock for 6:25 AM.

Got up, prayed rosary, and had Mass on EWTN. Andy called me in at 9:30 AM or so and I fried bacon and eggs and made pancakes. Cleaned up. About 12:45 they called me from shopping. I got up and got an apple, then started sorting the Writing Files. They needed it. Put Elf & Bear stuff together in order, and Alben stuff, and Gothenburg stuff, and AGODP stuff, and Ortha stuff. The diaries, poems, and dreams were in good enough shape. Sorted the rest into Ideas, Story Beginnings, Developed Stories, completed Stories. That leaves [sigh] the Drawings to work on. It’s now almost 5 PM.

Not too long after Susan came to me and asked me to start supper. I tried a new idea: cooking the hamburger in a baking dish then cutting it into square patties, and it was simple and worked a treat. Also fried onions and mushrooms together for the patties and made avocado dip and there were some very nicely spiced HEB Taco flavored tortilla chips. Andy had been mowing and doing other yardwork all day, and he began again after supper. Came out and watched Kenny reading more Jungle Book and came to his aid when he fell short of his time by reminding him there was a second Jungle Book. ‘Tis now 8:30 PM, and he should be back shortly to read Dracula. Which he did. As usual, there was an interruption as he froze before the end. Bah. Bed 10 PM.

 

3/30/2020: It was a cool night and I think having a thicker pillow to cushion my knees helped. Still alarming pains in the veins and general weakness, with some loss of stability when I get up, especially if it’s dark. Up about 4:30 AM, wrote some notes on “A Friend You Haven’t Met” (AFYHM). Dressed, prayers, Bible. Now 5:30 AM.

Wash at 9 AM, which I finished by 11 AM. Ramen at lunch. Made broccoli salad. John called and told me he was off work (paid) for a while. Amy was off as well (not paid). He told me that just before all this coronavirus started, Morgandy got a package direct from Wuhan, China, and they’ve been in dread of that for a while. Poor John. He seems particularly worried.

Supper fish rings and couscous. The drizzly rain of the day finally let up by evening. Rosary. Went in at 8 PM and made Kam supper, washed up, and retired for the night. Moved action figures from one bureau to another. Listened to Kenny reading The Second Jungle Book and then Dracula.

Had a strange reluctance all day after making the notes in the morning to write anything. The usual apprehension of not being able to match my conception with the actual incarnation. Well, tomorrow is another day. I hope.

 

3/31/3030: Up about 7:30 AM, showered, dressed, said my prayers and read my Bible. Watched Perry Mason face a gorilla.

That Good Old 1960's Gorilla

 

Translated a page, wrote a paragraph, went in, and boiled eggs and made chicken salad. Had ramen, with an egg and bread. Borrowed a mirror from Susan when they came home for lunch, and I buzzed my head. Kam has some school project on his plate; doesn’t want to work on it just yet but makes sure I stand ready to help him.

Sunny but cool all day. Watched some “House”. About 3:30 PM went in, grassed the dogs, fed the pets, stuffed the peppers, and shucked the corn. Brought the garbage bin in. Supper ready at 5:30 PM. Got a good block of writing in on AFYHM (4 pages) and some notes. Interrupted my flow to help Kam with his homework – a dreadful thing for a 56-year-old man to have to worry about. Went in and washed up, then returned home. Said Rosary, and now at 10:30 PM I’m ready to hit the hay. Tomorrow’s April Fool’s Day. Sheesh. I wouldn’t be surprised with the country being as paralyzed as it is if some fool still tried to flush a cherry bomb down the toilet of the world for the hell of it.

 

4/1/2020: Up about 6:30 AM, prayed, wrote a couple of pages of AFYHM, more prayers, Bible, than transposed a page of KK [King Korm] while I made some ramen. Now about 8 AM. Went in at 9 AM and made Kam his bacon and eggs. For some reason I’m particularly ravening this morning, so making some more ramen (with bacon grease, bread, and a leftover bell pepper cap) right away. Heard news of Rick and Morty new episodes come early May, so that’s a thing. Sunny, but a little cold this morning.

From e-mails to John: I got up fairly early when my brain juice was still pretty fresh and surprised myself by producing a few entire pages on the new story (tentatively titled "A Friend You Haven't Met" or AFYHM for short) in a sort of breeze. It was still getting things 'cranked up' but I found it so technically fascinating, even apart from what was happening, that I galumphed along until I found a good stopping place. There are still a few introductions to do, but the real action is immanent. So we'll see how that goes. Afterwards I translated a page of script to prose, and I vowed that I never would do bits in script again - unless I'm writing a script. It's not hard but it's irksome.

I was reminded of [a quote] this morning for some reason and posted it on Facebook. Here is the longer version of the anecdote:  

 

The story is told of Zusha, the great Chassidic master, who lay crying on his deathbed. His students asked him, "Rebbe, why are you so sad? After all the mitzvahs and good deeds you have done, you will surely get a great reward in heaven!"

"I'm afraid!" said Zusha. "Because when I get to heaven, I know God's not going to ask me 'Why weren't you more like Moses?' or 'Why weren't you more like King David?' But I'm afraid that God will ask 'Zusha, why weren't you more like Zusha?' And then what will I say?!"

Later: And here it is, almost evening. I spent the early afternoon starting to sort drawings, and it’s been so many years since I actually looked at them, that they were a sort of revelation. I'm making a special file of drawings by and of the family; there a quite a few by you in there. I've also started to gather, for the first time, all my "Last Drawings of the Year", starting from 1982. There are quite a few gaps, and I don't know if they are still misplaced, accidentally thrown away, or just never got drawn. As I say, there is much sorting yet to do. I'm also putting groups of drawings associated with specific writings together.

For supper, I brewed a prodigious pork stew that should last for at least two days. It contains pork roast, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage, and there is jalapeno cornbread on the side.  I'm dreading this evening, for Kam has computer homework to do, and guess who is assisting him? Gathering his attention and getting him to work is like herding cats.

And so: Kam and I worked on his stuff, and it wasn’t so bad, except that for one of his assignments a site he needed to reference was down. I finished going through the drawings, finding a few more last pictures, beat the folders into some kind of shape, and put them back. It was something of a revelation looking at them again with a distanced eye, but also with that inner knowledge of their place and origin in different times of my life. I could write a short biographical explanation about each of several 1000 pages! (That’s just a guess, as to number.) Listened to Yen reading Dracula (missed the first part of the evening, helping Kameron). 

Found an old drawing by Susan (she must have been about 7, she says) of the back yard at Loop Drive. A blast from the past, indeed. She also reminded me that I need to get in gear for SSI [Supplemental Security Income], a daunting prospect.

 

4/2/2020: Up about 5 AM, showered, dressed. Short prayers, but also Litany in Time of Plague. Caught up diary and looked at sites. Ready for longer prayers. Prayed, and did Rosary.

Family Medical Center: 303-5224. Appointment Monday, April 13, 10 AM. Well, that’s done.

Since Kameron had to be up to meet his pastor, he was ready to go ahead and do his homework after lunch. That’s out of the way.

I was ready to go in at 4 PM and grass the dogs when there was a sudden boom of thunder, and it began really raining. When it slows down, I’ll go in to heat the stew and take care of the pets.

Did so and went in about 7 PM to clean up. Got some Broccoli Salad and a new thing, Kameron’s miniature Jack-in-the-Box tacos. Watched Elijah play some world of Warcraft, then Yen reading Jungle Book and Dracula. Lost the connection about 10 PM. Wrote a page or so of AFYHM. Read some ghost stories.

Ready for bed, I guess. Having little stinging, shooting pains in my legs, abdomen, and now throat. Is this it? Is it coming on me? Now my hand. Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls to Heaven.

 

4/3/2020: Up at 6 AM, still alive. Dressed, prayed, Bible.

From John:  It's been pretty weird.  I've been doing various chores, both inside and outside, when the weather has allowed; looks like we are in for a pretty rainy week ahead, so probably not a lot of lawn work will be in the offing for a while.  Reading, watching various things and trying not to think too much about the horrors sweeping the globe.  It just seems like a bottomless pit of shit, to be sure.  Do ya'll have any masks? It would probably be a good idea to wear one if you are heading into the Family Clinic- that place is kinda skeezy even in non-plague times. Ask Susan- they probably have them from the shop, for painting, etc. We are past the point of worrying about over-reacting to this now. We got our new washing machine delivered today, and boy, has that been great, being able to catch up on laundry. Not having one for last couple of weeks has certainly added to the stress- we could use the Loth's washer, and did a little, but the pain in the butt of ours crapping out right as society crumbled was pretty harsh. But now-luxury!

Made Kam eggs and bacon. Made myself ramen for breakfast. At lunch, ramen again, with an egg. About 3 PM started preparing the fried potatoes (peeling, getting the pan) and spent right up to 5:45 PM frying them. We had supper (fish, taters, broccoli salad); I said a rosary about 6:30 PM. No writing so far and I don’t know if I will. Day rainy, damp, and cold.

 

4/4/2020: What a blaugh day. Hard, heavy rain, and cold. Prayers, Bible. Ramen for breakfast, ramen for lunch, with the house closed up and didn’t see anyone until 4 PM, when I got Kam to do homework and I got leftover broccoli salad and (what else) ramen. Finished, went in, and got the leftover chicken salad. Watching “Targets” Boris Karloff, Peter Bogdanovich. I did write 3 new pages on AFYHM and sent the whole thing so far to John, in a fit of ennui. No kid’s reading from Yen tonight; Dracula later.

E-mail from John, as I sent him AFYHM so far: Ha! Okay, this is going to be fun! Just saw I had this a little while ago- I've been pretty much bumming around today, and finally checked in on the wide world.  We watched "Time Bandits " last night- I almost cried just from the sheer nostalgia it evoked. I watched "Brazil" a few nights back- that one is still the brilliant bummer I remembered, seeming more and more prescient every time I watch it again, which has been about once a decade these last few times. The idea of Roth and Korm on the loose in "Walnut Springs” is certainly tantalizing! I love the Monroe Engbrock and Danny Daniels references! Keep rolling, if the weather allows- that heavy gray is certainly a zap on one’s gumption.  I finished "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance " - an interesting philosophical examination which, strangely, but not unpleasantly, had more to do with Greek philosophy than Zen, although that does tie in, in the ineffable way it can tie in to anything else.  Send more when you can!

Notes

So the town of 'Walnut Springs' is based on my hometown of Seguin, Texas; indeed that used to be its name in the old days. 'A Friend You Haven't Met' (see elsewhere on this blog) was a strange little endeavor, a bit of fun to bring together the Bureau of Shadows with the Morg/Ortha stories; I had been writing so many of both then. The tale brings a lot of town lore into it as well, suitably fictionalized; it is indeed almost 'a love letter to a town'!

I remember what a struggle it was to get Kameron to settle down to his homework, to resist the temptation to just do it for him and be done with it! I'm pleased to say in the end he completed his work by himself; my input was mainly encouragement and guidance, and getting him to buckle down to it. I'm afraid he had some of my dilatory, last-minute nature. 

What a lot of cultural balloons we kept and keep in the air to help our spirits stay alive! Perry Mason, Dracula, The Jungle Book, Time Bandits, House, Boris Karloff, -- even Rick and Morty, to an extent! I remember how sad it was seeing certain resources sputtering out, certain shows discontinued, as the lights went out all over the world and we huddled around our campfires.

As you can see by my health panics and my recollection of Covid times, I have a tendency to pessimistic dramatics.

March 2020 Diary: Slow the Spread

3/22/2020: Up very early (4:30 AM?) to write down dream. Then started a new document to mark down new terms for the Morgish Lexicon. Then prayers, Bible, and partook in a Mass on EWTN. The sound was off, but subtitles on, which I read aloud, and I had a very moving experience at the elevation of the Host. Then worked more on Lexicon, trying to mark the Seven Beards and reconcile what I’ve said about them already, then went in and baked cake [For Andy’s birthday]. Had Kam’s leftover tacos for breakfast. Went in at 1 PM to ice cake, and a little later we had a piece and sang Happy Birthday. Finished Lexicon, mailed John a copy, and had some ramen with leftover mushrooms for lunch. Saw some old Electric Company animations – “Happy Birthday Miss Jones”. Not rainy today, but very muddy, and cloudy and cool. Ready for a nap, I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIK11lzM35Y Miss Jones

Had a nap. Rosary. For supper we had leftover Chicken Express, and I had to eat up the chicken salad from Tuesday. About 8:30 PM Yen started reading AGODP [A Grave on Deacon’s Peak] and got through three chapters. He’s using a Kindle version, which I am not sure got all the corrections and updates it should have, and it followed his reading of “Treasure Island’, which is a hard act to follow. In the wake I went back and read the whole book again, which I haven’t even looked at in months. It is now exactly midnight, and I think I shall hit the hay.

 

3/23/2020: Up at 6 AM, prayers, Bible. Straighten up the house. Another day of quarantine, or, as I should day, another day quite as usual for me, as the only place I ever went in a week was usually church. And I do miss that. Susan and Andy provide for me my daily wants; they bear the brunt of the burdens of these times, and I pray daily for them, and thank God for their charity. Now that KK is ‘finished’, I must consider my next move: to work on rewrites or finish the next chapter of BB2. I could do both, a little at a time I suppose. Get the machine cranked up and going. Hopefully things will dry up today. We sit in the shadow of doom, and there is some good in it: whether we believe, as the Chinese claim, that COVID-19 is somehow an American plant or plot, or whether it started naturally in China with some people eating bats, the universal encounter with suffering gives us a common cause and experience, and, paradoxically enough, while it physically separates us it can actually remind us of our shared humanity, our connectedness, and make us thirst for human contact. In the shadow of death, we show whether we are a light or simply another part of the darkness. ‘All that can be shaken will be shaken, and what cannot be shaken will remain.’ And that’s my thoughts on that.

Watched a lot of Electric Company animations and skits today, recalling old catchphrases that entered our Babellian speech.

Ramen (with eggs and bread) for breakfast, a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch, and then broccoli salad and ramen with couscous for supper. Laid down and napped, then up and washed up, and then Kenny was already reading AGODP. He read FIVE chapters, and I can’t believe how quickly they went by, when they took so long to write. There was one listener that seemed very enthusiastic about it. [Ann Bellinger]. Afterwards Yen said Isabel had read KK and loves the Morg civilization, and Morgs in general, and that fills me up with happiness. Now almost 11 PM, and I must to my Rosary.

To John: Not a whole lot going on; that is to say, no writing, yet, as such. Just my normal Monday tasks of doing the wash, making a broccoli salad - it takes over an hour! - for the week, and today I forced Kameron to get out of his pajamas and dress in REAL CLOTHES, so at the end of this quarantine he won't have devolved into wearing a diaper. I can't believe I actually welcomed the sun after the moosh of the last few days. I feel myself wondering is it hot or do I have a fever, the sneaking fears that plague you during a plague. I'm doing a little devolving myself, watching old "Electric Company" episodes - not completely, but zipping forward to animations and familiar skits. Of course, the ubiquitous Bill Cosby is all over it, as he was on Captain Kangaroo and other kids shows, which makes it a little odd. It's weird to see little bits and pieces that recall old phrases. "My Brother's Mother is My Mother Too (or Nosferatu)" or "Happy Birthday Miss Jones, You Sure have Nice Bones" (or Steve Jones).  Also started again on Marcus Aurelius "Meditations"; his style is mellifluous, but almost too fast, you have to really slow down to analyze what he's saying - but that could be the translation. More of Kenny's performance of AGODP tonight. I told him R.L. Stevenson was a hard act to follow. He told me a friend of his had ordered a copy last night. 

 

3/24/2020: Up about 7 AM. Dressed, prayers. To spare our bottled water supply (which is suddenly at a premium) I am switching my Lenten fast object from tea to candy. Let me explain. I make my tea from hot tap water, which does not tax our bottled water (out of the tap it tastes foul, but with tea and sweetener it’s – tolerable). Given my physical disabilities and the present situation, I understand it is allowable – but it still makes me uncomfortable. Now 9 AM.

To John: I should tell you that Kenny read 3 chapters Sunday night, 5 chapters Monday night, and I reckon he'll finish the last 3 chapters tonight. It's a bit humbling to hear what took me so long to compose finished in three nights. But it ain't LOTR - and that took years to write. 

Breakfast: Leftover boiled eggs. Lunch: ramen with an egg and bread. Supper: corn on the cob (but not for me – no teethshes), turkey chili, and rotini noodles.

Cooking supper was a hot business, especially since I started a little late (I had just turned a page of ‘script’ into ‘prose’ for KK), and Kam wanted ‘grill cheeses’, and I couldn’t figure out the key to the outside freezer (but now I know). Rosary. The evening was spent listening to Yen read Treasure Island, and then the last 3 chapters of AGODP, which he ended by praising the rest of my BoS tales. So I end the evening on a high note here a little after 10 PM.

 

3/25/2020: Up about 6 AM. Showered. Prayers, Bible.  At 9 AM made my ramen, and chicken salad (a mistake on my part, but forgiven); had a sammich for lunch and made cornbread, then at 2 PM started the stew. Pork stew, with onions, celery, carrots, and potatoes. Lovely. Rosary. Went in at 8 PM and made Kam Tx toast and taquitos and cleaned up. Opened the outside freezer for the first time. Came back in, then started watching Yen read Treasure Island.

Today I wrote about Mora Madra, Mog’s wife, then a small history of Gorb, a Morg mentioned as an epithet in KK. Happy with these compositions but haven’t heard any feedback yet (9 PM). The night is basically done.

An old memory: us brothers taking a bath together, ‘drinking’ bathwater out of a blue plastic whale and calling for Darby M’graw.

 

3/26/2020: Up, and prayers, Bible, dressed. At 9 AM made Kam bacon and eggs and had my ramen. A little after noon, more ramen, and a chicken salad sandwich. Rearranged my room for the Rotts, as the exterminators are coming. Grassed the Chis at 3 PM, penned the Rotts up in the Guest house by 4 PM, Andy and the exterminators came, then I let the Rotts (after combing huge hanks of fur from their coats) out about 5:20 PM. Susan was home. I heated up the leftover pork stew. I wrote one little poem (They Say Swans) and translated about half a page of KK. With the couch moved I fixed up the shelf behind it, moving books and cleaning up. Kenny started Jungle Book tonight and continued Carmilla. Rosary. Shower. Now 10 PM and ready to sleep. But shall I? The room is in a new configuration.

[SWANS, THEY SAY

Swans, they say, before they die,

Intone one last melodious cry.

Even so, when Death comes winging,

I hope that it shall find me singing. 

3/26/2020] 

3/27/2020: Woke up about 2:30 AM, and when it became clear I wasn’t getting back to sleep, got up, did some more straightening and rearranging, and said my prayers, read my Bible, and said my Rosary for Friday. The Rotts seem to be barking outside – or is it the neighbor’s dog? Why am I so restless? Now the big couch is in a very good spot to watch TV, and the loveseat is facing it – which covers up a few books, but not entirely. Maybe I should translate the other half of that page. The germ of a story idea: Korm and Roth somehow get through the Domain of Doors and visit Earth. Muzzles disguised by safety masks? Ancient Bob (expy of me) encounters them and gets them home? Did some calculations: if I live to June 7, I will be exactly Mom’s age when she passed away.

E-mail to John, which pretty much sums up the day to 2 PM:  Yesterday we had a visit from the exterminators, which necessitated me having to host the Rottweilers for a while, which meant I had to move some furniture to corral them off from more sensitive areas. This led to them shedding copious amounts of fur with all the scratchings I had to apply to calm them down, which led to a great sweep-down when they left. This led to a re-arrangement of furniture, which put my couches both in a better line of fire for the window fan and a better distance to watch the TV from, and more access to some shelves. THAT led to a better propping and clean-up of those shelves, and THAT led to a sudden ambition to straighten up the Archives, which had gotten shuffled around a bit through the months. Also striking me in the middle of the night was an idea for a bit of fun; a new short story which I wrote on most of the morning, which I think YOU might be the only proper audience for, so Babellian it be. I can't say the Archives are in perfect shape yet, but - and I can't stress this enough - they are better than they were. This sort of thing usually takes a pass or two before I'm completely satisfied. This going through the Archives reminds me of my nagging ambition to get a printer and make clean physical copies of all my work, both new and old.

For supper made Gorton’s fish in butter, fried potatoes (a tedious process, since I made them here in the guest house on the hotplate), and broccoli salad. We all ate together for a change; it was nice. Worked on the Archives and got things closer to some kind of order. Especially on my “real life business” file and a file bringing the BoS materials together. Found a few stray fortune cookie fortunes. Dead Ready!

 

3/28/2020: Woke up about 2:30 AM. Caught up on Diary. Perhaps this will be a new schedule: up at night to work, then about 11 AM nap, then afternoon family concerns until after supper, then entertainment until about 11 PM, then another nap (for I cannot call it sleep). Dreaming about the clean, orderly, physical heft of my writing, printed out in neat binders. New ambition: get the files on the computer into a neat, print-ready form. Laid down again about 5 AM.
Up at about 8 AM. Looked in my shoebox pictures and found cache of “Last Picture of the Year” drawings and put them with the others. I think I need to borrow one of those garage sale tables for a while to make a really thorough sorting. Wrote more on “A Stranger You Haven’t Met”, incorporating much Seguinite lore. After a brief ransack of the kitchen closet (which ended up in better order) I found I had put the fortunes up in a tin in the cabinet over the sink, so I was able to add those 3 I found. Try to remember this! No omelet this morning so I made myself some ramen (with a bun – those buns Susan gave me Thursday). Looking in the shoebox of drawings in the Archive I found more Last Drawings and put them together with the others. When I ran a couple of bags of trash out, I found it was dripping with rain, but not too bad, and cooler. Now it’s almost 11 AM, and what shall I do? I feel like organizing; maybe I don’t need the table. And there’s always computer files.

So I went to the clothes closet, took out the bin, and found enough space for the shirts from Pop’s little dresser, which freed up 3 drawers – put cards from the Archives into the Christmas Card Box – and put tote bags into the little fridge drawer. Makes everything look neater if nothing else. Just rescued a toad out of the kiddie pool at 11:30 AM and got him out of the Rotts’ reach.

Rosary by 12 noon.

About 3 PM called in to make tacos, and we ate at 4 PM. Andy’s been mowing most of the afternoon (the rain having cleared up). Now 8 PM and I wonder if they’ll want anything for supper or just eat leftovers. Making tiny obsessive straightenings all day.

So, no cooking supper. Dithered a bit, and then went to bed.

Notes

I've been rather jealous of the 'moosh' of five years ago: this has been an uncomfortably dry year so far. We just had another German chocolate cake for Andy's birthday; some traditions persist. 'Dead Ready' was an old goal: to have everything in place and organized in case I dropped dead.

I was really on fire with new ideas at the time and the will to implement them; no doubt on a high from getting AGODP published and anxiety over the Covid situation. 'When a man is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.' - Samuel Johnson.

There are two seasons that always move me to cleaning and 'straightening'; Fall and Spring. That's when I'm prone to an overhaul of things that have grown rather slipshod over time.

Just found out that my grand-niece Julia has been born, at 12:50 AM, weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces and 20 and 1/4 inches long. Huzzah!

March 2020 Diary: A Bunch of Old, er, Stuff

3/15/2020: The Ides of March. Up about 6 AM, and at 7 AM started watching the Mass on EWTN. Andy came over and we talked a little about what we might need for groceries during ‘the shutdown weeks’ (yes, there’s kind of a social shutdown going on to slow the coronavirus now). Prayers and Bible. Made spaghetti for lunch and watched some MST3K. Kind of cool with a little rain once, but not much. Will I be able to poop naturally today? We shall see. Started watching “Monsignor Quixote”: at last, after about 30 years, it’s available. Feeling a little urpy; hope it’s not the spaghetti backing up because it can’t get into the colon. Still no word as of 6:30 PM from John about K[ing] K[orm].

 

3/16/2020: Up at about 4:30 AM. Prayers, Bible. Was finally able to take a poop without ‘priming the pump’, as it were; another mass of dark matter-like intensity, but I passed it naturally. For which I thank God. Going off caffeine, too few vegetables, and anxiety kind of whipped up the perfect conditions for constipation. Wrote a quick poem ‘Back in Ortha’ by 7 AM. Kenny called me early discussing the possibility of reading AGODP [A Grave on Deacon’s Peak] aloud on FB Live. Ramen for breakfast and lunch and made broccoli salad. Supper, fish rings, parmesan couscous, and broccoli salad. Much of the evening spent listening to Kenny read “The Monk” by Matthew Lewis. Rosary.  

 

3/17/2020: St. Patrick’s Day (so also, I think, the Downfall of Sauron). Up at 6 AM, took a dump (yay!), got dressed (green shirt), then said my prayers and read my Bible. I SHOULD spend today trying to finish KK, but we shall see.

Not much going on, as the quarantine continues. Ramen, then sausage and cabbage for supper. Wrote a page segued between Korm’s journey through the Stone Tombs and Nast waking up the next day. Couldn’t stay up to watch Yen reading and fell asleep without saying Rosary.

 

3/18/2020: Up about 3 AM, said my prayers and did yesterday’s rosary (Sorrowful). Napped between 4:30 AM and 6 AM, then up and showered. Started writing and did Nast’s camp and Drim setting up the watch. Ramen at breakfast, leftover sausage at lunch. Helped Kam renew his library books online a little before 2 PM. Picked chicken, boiled rice, then put chicken, rice and broccoli in to bake for an hour at 400 degrees. Pretty tasty. Sent John writing by 4 PM. Rosary by 7 PM. Weather cloudy, then sunny when the sun dips lower under the clouds; right now windy, with chance of rain this evening.

 

3/19/20: Much routine. Some writing. Listened to Kenny reading “The Hunting of the Snark” and “The Monk” and got Kris Jerome’s go-ahead to let him read AGODP. Told John we should suspend the $20 until the crisis is over. First day of spring?

 

3/20/2020: Same routine [and by routine I don’t mean to imply boring or rote]. Quite a bit of writing, up to the point the Herald rides up between the armies. Very rainy all day. No word from John about what he thinks about the story all week; I imagine he might be a little distracted, what with the end of the world and all. I don’t know if it has to do with having the windows open or what, but there seem to be a lot more sirens going off today. First case of coronavirus reported in Guadalupe County. No meat today. Found I had bungled and somehow got some sections of KK mixed up, so fixed that.

 

3/21/2020: Up about 6 AM, prayed, showered, dressed, read Bible, said Rosary. I mean to finish the first draft of KK today. Sat down and saw I hadn’t written diary for two days, so filled that in. Now almost 7:30 AM; I’m going to try to get to work.

And so I did, and snudging along, grudging along work it was, my dears. But by 3:30 PM or so I had reached the end, and managed to put a little scene with Uncle Akko by himself that I think was the perfect button, which came to me out of the blue just when I needed it. Now all I have to do it convert the script to prose and plug it into the proper place in “Tales of the Morgs” and I’ll be a happy camper, indeed. Sent copies off to John and Kenny, but as of 9:40 PM haven’t heard a word from either of them.

Through the day had leftover turkey chili noodles for breakfast, leftover brussels sprouts in ramen for lunch, and then at supper S&A brought home Chicken Express, so chicken, biscuits, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn nuggets, and hush puppies, with sweet tea! Susan also bought me a new fan; but since the weather’s so cold again (with rain all day) it might be a while before I really need it. Also trouble with cable all day, but they were here twice to work on it (and Andy had to help the guy out of the mud with his wrecker) and it seems to be working fine now. Some more ramen topped off the night. Wondering and waiting if Kenny is going to read more tonight or if John will contact me with an opinion on KK. 

Notes

After a quick search I find that King Korm is not a story I have posted yet, though the poem 'Going Back to Ortha' is. Gee, to slow the spread. That was a while ago, and certainly didn't turn out like people imagined. Kenny's reading of A Grave on Deacon's Peak probably accounted for it's widest distribution ever, given his enormous circle of friends. Ides of March, St. Patrick's Day, Downfall of Sauron, Spring, ... all come round again.

March 1981

 

MARCH 1: Stayed home. Rested up.

MARCH 2: Got some rest. Was absent from school.

MARCH 3: Got research paper back. A+! Went to Writer's Round Table.

MARCH 4: A pretty good day. I feel happy. Wrote poems.

MARCH 5: Got "Out of the Silent Planet," "Perelandra," "That Hideous Strength," and "Glinda of Oz." I'm torn between joy and euphoria.

MARCH 6: Got "The Lord of the Rings" Cliff Notes and an eye check. (March 7)

MARCH 7: Worked. A dull day.

MARCH 8: Rested. A dull day. Read.

MARCH 9: Had Monday off. Mowed at Nanny's. Mower broke. Hooray!

MARCH 10: Wrote a funny parody of German lines in the workbook.

MARCH 11: Got "Farmer Giles of Ham," "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil," "Deus Irae," and "The Acts of King Arthur and His Knights" by John Steinbeck.

MARCH 12: A boring day. I must get my glasses. Soon!

MARCH 13: Work was fast and easy. No big problems.

MARCH 14: Went to Nanny's and just waited around. Went to work. Drew "Morg" [on big cardboard]. Got glasses.

MARCH 15: Worked a usual day. Went to [driving] simulator.

MARCH 16: Destruction of the Ring. Got "Last Defender of Camelot." Shoveled rocks for driveway. [Odd. I have no memory of this book. Must have got it from SFBC with carelessness, as I often did.]

MARCH 17: A regular school day. Learned more on the simulator.

MARCH 18: Got "I, Claudius," "Claudius the God," "Count Brass," "Champion of Garathorm," and Famous Monsters #173.

   These are all the days I recorded of that March. I see that for all my last-minute scrambling I got an A+ on my English paper. Perhaps Mrs. Richardson was being kind, or maybe I was just such a GENIUS! I include covers of the books I no longer have. I found "Glinda of Oz" particularly gratifying, as it completed the fourteen Oz books that Baum himself wrote. I have a different copy of "That Hideous Strength" since this one fell apart. The trilogy was one of the few good presents that Nanny ever got me. Every spring I celebrated "The Destruction of the Ring" with some feasting and ceremonies. I'll have to write about that in another entry.