HPL

The New York Times has published an online review of the Library of America edition of H. P. Lovecraft's Tales. It's a surprisingly good review from a reviewer who actually knows what the hell he's talking about, and does a good job of describing just what it is about Lovecraft that makes him Totally Cool(tm).

Oh...and speaking of lurking fear--I just went outside to feed the outside cats, the Black Twins, and what do I see strutting around in my front yard. A fucking turkey buzzard. And today I go to the doctor's to get the News. Wonderful omen.

Pope Benny!

So, now I know exactly who this "Ratzinger" fellow is. Apparently, he's a rightist, traditionalist dunderhead. Doesn't really matter, though...because it's not like the Catholic Church isn't completely outdated anyway.

Still...a German Pope. I wonder how that's going to play out. Sourdough communion wafers? A return to Kantian "categorical imperative" bullshit? Revival of Anti-reformation theology? Lederhosen beneath the vestments? Oh, the stereotyping could go on forever!

And the verdict is....

Too early to tell.

I saw my doctor today and, fortunately, we managed to rule out the Big Terror, Multiple Sclerosis, right out: I may have some of the haptic symptoms, but no neurological difficulties--my reflexes are fine and I haven't had any weird problems with my vision.

But...that doesn't really narrow things down too much. Right now, possible suspects are: fibromyalgia, some form of lupus or other erythmatous inflammatory illness, or possibly even just some weird kind of aftereffect of a viral infection (though the last is very, very unlikely because it's ony getting worse, not slackening off with time). Nonetheless, I'm scheduled to have a few quarts of blood drawn on Thursday, and I go back in two weeks to see what the results are.

In the meantime, I'm full of Vicodin. All we can do right now is treat the symptoms...but even Vicodin doesn't help much now. Three weeks ago, it was wonderful. Now...it just reduces the pain enough that I can walk without a cane and carry my laptop bag up stairs again. But that is good enough for now!!! ANY improvement is a good thing!

My medical insurance still runs out next week, though. At least the blood work will be covered, though, and if I need more Vicodin, even without prescription coverage it won't cost very much, so...all is not great there, but neither is it horrible.

Don't expect these good feelings to last, though. It's just the Vicodin talking.