Sneezy, Grumpy and Dopey

America waits in hushed anticipation, one question on its trembling lips: “Does Walker feel better?”

Walker replies (in an impressive, deep voice), “I’m not actually sure.”

Saturday I woke up hopefully (I always feel sort of fair when I first get up), thinking “I can probably manage going to church to set up today…” (as I’ve mentioned, my church meets in a gymnasium, and my team is called on to set up the stage and chairs once every five weeks) “…and then do some Christmas shopping, and get a couple things at the grocery store.”

After an hour or two (spent mostly on the couch) I thought, “I’ll have to call in AWOL on the set-up, but I can probably do some shopping and go to the grocery store. I don’t have much left to buy.”

A couple hours later I said, “I guess I can still get some groceries. That’s not far to drive.”

And then I gave up on the groceries too.

Sunday I spent reading books, in a prone position.

Today I went in to work, and put in my time. I was not a human dynamo, but I was there and I did what a man’s gotta do.

I’m still coughing, though, and still don’t have much of a voice. If it doesn’t clear up soon I suppose I’ll have to see the doctor and inquire delicately about bronchitis.

I stopped at the drug store tonight, and while I was inside a young woman clipped the corner of Mrs. Hermanson, my Tracker, and tore her front bumper off. She had me paged in the store, and gave me her name and phone number (the young woman, that is. Not Mrs. Hermanson). She said she was driving her father’s car, and didn’t have any ID or insurance information on her. She wants to handle it outside insurance.

I’m not delighted about this, and I figure there’s a good chance she’ll just change her phone number once I give her the estimate, but I don’t know what else I could do under the circumstances.

Then again, I suppose if she were out to rip me off, she could have just driven away.



For Pete’s sake, girl, if you wanted to give me your phone number, you could have just introduced yourself!

Orwell Didn’t Know Everything

Here’s a book you may have overlooked. What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics, edited by András Szántó. It’s an essay anthology from people who believe the “state of public discourse in our country, especially the language used by politicians and journalists, [is] ‘divorcing itself from reality at an alarming rate.’ [They] ‘were especially concerned about the waning power — or inclination — of the press to bring political rhetoric in line with fact,’ believing that the line between debate and propaganda had become dangerously obscured.” The fact that George Soros funded the book may mean it’s a waste of paper, that is, a collection of thoughts from those who would take the speck out of our eyes will nurturing the log in their own. But on the surface, I agree with their premise. Political discourse and those “debates” they keep pushing at us appear to be pretty lightweight.

M.W. Smith: A Light in the Darkness

Michael W. Smith has prepared a third Christmas album, and an article on this ends this way:

But despite his success in gospel, Smith worries he’s not doing enough to influence mainstream culture. When he was reaching the pop charts in the ’90s, he said, he loved it because he felt like he was “a light bulb in a dark room.”

“I think about it a lot. ‘What am I doing with my life, and am I doing the right thing?'” Smith says.

He pauses a moment and adds, “I do feel like the success I’ve had has given me a platform to try to let people know what’s really important in life. If you’re not feeding the poor, not looking out for the troubled kid on the block, not giving yourself away, you’ve totally missed it.”

I suspect Smith either held back a bit or made some statements which were not quoted, because giving yourself away must be a part of living out the Gospel or we will be missing it, as he says. That cup of water must be offered in the name of Christ, not the name of decency or America. It is God living among us that brings peace on earth, not simply pulling together.

Snowfall

The speckled sky is dim with snow,

The light flakes falter and fall slow;

Athwart the hill-top, rapt and pale,

Silently drops a silvery veil;

And all the valley is shut in

By flickering curtains gray and thin.

Read more of “Midwinter” by John Townsend Trowbridge

Terry Pratchett Optimistic in Face of Disease

Will hands off the news that author Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with a type of Alzheimers. He encourages fans to remain optimistic and plans to keep all current commitments.

Writers Union to Deal Directly with Studios

“Faced with the indefinite suspension of negotiations, the union representing striking Hollywood writers told its members Saturday it would try to deal directly with Hollywood studios and production companies, bypassing the umbrella organization that has been representing them,” reports John Rogers of the Associated Press. Specifically, David Letterman’s show plans to make a deal that will put new shows back on the air.

Chronicle of the plague week

Yeah, I’m feeling a little better. Compared to the last couple days. Compared to waterboarding. Compared to sitting through a re-run of Family Affair. I put in another full day at work, but I have all the energy and zest for life of… well, of a middle-aged, depressive Norwegian. Normal, in other words. Normal with a deep desire for sleep, a bad cough, and a voice south of James Earl Jones’.

I like the deep voice. One of the many dreams life has denied me, like the dream of being six feet tall, was the dream of singing bass. I got as far down as baritone, but people usually assume I’m a tenor. I don’t want to be thought of as a tenor. I want to be thought of as a bass—a sea-bottom bass with an extra Y chromosome.

The pleasure is reduced by the fact that only about half of my words actually get out. I alternate between no voice of all and a bass rumble: “(Croak) name is (croak) Walker.”



Now I shall crawl away to the sofa.

Book drawing

Our friend Roy Jacobson, at Writing, Clear and Simple, is offering a copy of the soon-to-be-released book, Elements of Internet Style in a drawing. Roy is a contributor to the book, and it looks like just the thing for you young folks who understand all this interwebs stuff. Go over and take a chance.