The soot-covered industry district; large farm animals waiting for a nap on some bread; lips and tongue and teeth smacking in the night like sea bass.

Worn memories, threadbare embellishments, a short or perhaps longer span of lifetime where everything seemed spiffy.

Of course there is a scene with the same title in Monty Python with the giant goose, drag queens, and a few loonies beating the shit out of each other, but mostly I stick to the gila monsters and spitting old folk sorta salad days.

I mention that random imagery because I realize, right here and now, that these are my salad days.

In back of me was a time-intensive, albeit pretty easy, semester with all manners of love, betrayal, intriguing sex, more intriguing almost sex, monkeys, non-corporeal Detroit urban things, nearly dying in a car crash, wearing pants, sending cash to help un-starve people, parrying Uncle Sam's raging manhood from a direct course to my nether regions...and blah blah blah.

And in front of me, months in the future, is a semester of more classes, doing teaching assistant work, continuing research, going to a conference of some sort hopefully...and lots of academic stuff.

So, these are the days.

What am I doing with them, you might ask?

Well partly I'm being productive at the lab. True, going into the lab feels like dragging an iron ball some days, but it's pretty routine. Just today I did learn I need to do even more bureaucratic shit I shouldn't have to do, but it wouldn't be a lab without having to constantly re-adjust.

One reason I like science: got me out of the habit of being a very rigid person.

But besides work, I'd been productive at home, too. I got back into the swing of writing and was really enjoying the process. Then it sorta suddenly stopped. Writing, studying mysticism, and drinking are like that: you put it down when you know doing any more is going to fuck you up.

And so, being too sick at the time to get my photographer on, I decided to become a gamer again.

I went out one day, had a fabulous lunch at the Med. cafe, and finally bought Thief 3. I got a like-new copy for 12 bucks. Oh the sheer bliss of playing one of my favorite medieval fantasy series. I could get geeky about it, but suffice it to say my nights have been wonderful.

But even so, I've been able to stay a semi-respectable bachelor type in terms of hygiene and buying groceries. Yes. I actually bought groceries two days ago. This stems directly from my finally getting a free day to borrow a screwdriver from my landlord to put on my new license plates. I hadn't driven for 4 1/2 months, so I was sorta worried to even try...but it all went well.

Well, except for the shopping part. There's almost nothing else on this earth I HATE more than doing grocery shopping--particularly at this Hole Foods. I would rather write a 15 page paper on almost anything than have to grocery shop. Right as I enter the store the feeling of dread hits me. Oh it isn't anxiety. It's anger. I'd been a stupid bastard and forgotten it was saturday afternoon. So naturally the aisles were packed with squalling children, squalling adults, people who just stand in the middle of the aisle and sorta stare into space like they're telepathically communicating with some dude's ass in Sweden, and just way too many fucking people.

And so I was there and gone in relatively short order.

I'd also planned on seeing Hitchhiker's and SW: Episode 3 sometime soon...but this whole sitting at my apartment and playing a computer game thing is good for now. I like straight-forward, simple, relaxing. Gods know weird shit happens to complicate things occasionally, so why add complication to it?

I've even heard back from some semi-old and old friends. Conversations and catching up have been had or will be had soon.

And so all in all almost everything seems to be coming up roses, doing real swell, is hott, rocks my socks, and any other positive colloquialism in your hat.

Of course this should make me wonder where and when the looming catastrophe is going to be. I know there's one around here somewhere just aching to drag me, kicking and screaming, into some off-beat situation...but y'know...for now, there's nothing of the sort.

Everything just IS. No change, no crises of others, no immediate problems.

So I'll stick my fork in these salad days, take a bite, pet a gila monster on a khaki beige brown boulder, and poke at the old folks as the wind blows and spit flies.

Yum yum yum.

previous - next