There is an Elephant Man that I see walking about in my city from time to time. I generally see him in the block directly northeast of our State Capitol. I am curious about him, but not so much that I would talk to him. As shallow as it is to say, he is quite difficult to look at. I would guess that he lives in that area, but maybe he works at the State Capitol – he may be a custodian, or a clerk, or maybe even an elected official. He may work in the Indian Restaurant that is around the corner. When I see him, he is walking slowly, just strolling, like he hasn’t a care in the world. I always cross to the other side of the street. I am always amazed to see the Elephant Man, and I look around me to see if other pedestrians notice him, but there is never anyone else around. The wind chills me and I keep walking.
Monthly Archives: November 2002
Eleven eleven, again
Eleven eleven on eleven eleven! Again!
Eleven eleven
Eleven eleven on eleven eleven! Eleven eleven on eleven eleven!
Technically
Chelsea B.: tomorrow is my birthday!
lucahack: tomorrow the 11th?
Chelsea B.: the tenth
Chelsea B.: well…technically
Chelsea B.: today is my birthday
lucahack: today is the tenth!
Chelsea B.: cause it’s after midnight
lucahack: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Chelsea B.: thanks!
Chelsea B.: i’m old
Chelsea B.: 271
Chelsea B.: NO.
lucahack: that’s so old
Chelsea B.: 27
lucahack: that’s not as old
Who dem?
Who are all these strange-looking people?
Well, most of them are my fellow design students. See more pictures of them here.
Can you find me? Hint: I am not the one dressed as Olive Oyl.
Condition: craptastic
I’m down to 20% brainpower! Alert! Alert! MY HEAD GONNA ‘SPLODE!
I probably need a girlfriend or something.
Wait, no I don’t. What a ridiculous idea! To clutter up my already mismanaged life with notions of love and romance and adequate lubrication. As if I weren’t distracted enough! And I would suddenly have to start putting thought into my appearance. And probably I would be obligated to start caring about other people in general and their interests. Who needs the grief? Oh, and what if she nags? What if she wants to set guidelines I have to follow? If she wants me to «shudder» improve myself? What a needless complication of my life that would be!
Oh, but the girls… the girls is pretty…
Why my brain is broken
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would like to submit that my brain has been broken for nearly two months now. My thoughts have all been rigid and non-verbal. The process of putting words together is even a little nauseating.
It is worth noting, though, that my brain has kind of taken a beating lately. Let’s go back over the details. July was a fairly productive month for me, so we’ll start there, saying that my brain was operating at about 90% functionality (that would be 90% of the one-tenth of our brains that we humans use), and assess the damage I have taken in the interim.
Early July:
Internet girls visiting from out of town for comic convention leads to traumatic experience on my part. (87%)
Late July:
A self-imposed cessation of the ingestion of various prescribed materials for longstanding medical conditions due to possible negative side effects. (80%)
Early August:
Trip to West Coast broadens horizons, results in unhappiness with current life. (78%)
Realization that starting school means I’m stuck in Chicago for three more years. (77%)
Weeklong separation from cat. (74%)
Mid-August:
Appearance of large painful furuncle on chin and accompanying symptoms, including flulike nose and throat issues and mentally crippling inner ear pain. (64%)
Furuncle and symptoms linger for at least three weeks. (60%)
Meanwhile, preparations to leave work and return to school continue. (55%)
Late August:
Last day of work, accompanied by struggle to try to get as much done as possible during last week. (52%)
No break between work and school. (51%)
School begins, shattering every iota of self-confidence in intelligence and talent, not to mention sending social skills back into gutter. (41%)
Much like college the first time around. (40%)
September:
Notable largely for daily bouts of crushing self-doubt. (37%)
Furuncle finally goes away. (39%)
Organizing a move into a new apartment begins. (37%)
October:
Move is executed. (35%)
Unpacking begins. (34%)
School workload increases suddenly, resulting in disruption of already volatile sleep patterns. (31%)
At worst, three sleepless nights in a one-week period. (27%)
Crushing self-doubt continues. (25%)
November:
NaNoWriMo begins. For some reason, I have registered again. I then cheerfully begin revising the layout of my website. My brain is broken.
Is it any wonder I can’t think lately? Can’t think, can barely string sentences together when I speak, can’t write anything down without some form of agony. That is probably why I signed up to write a novel again this year – to force the gears turning again. Of course, if those gears don’t want to move, there’s a chance I could strip them completely. And in this analogy I’m not sure what happens to me if this happens, but it certainly can’t be good. But this is what I do, and for some reason, I am choosing to continue doing it in the face of this.
Cover me. I’m going in.
Realization
I am sexy.