(This counts because I started it at 6 pm)
(A Post Written From The Imagined Mind Of A Friend)
So I'm here in Baltimore...and the more crash victims and burnouts
I see only makes me realize two things:
1. I should have brought my guitar
2. I question the realm in which I chose to live my life.
I once saw this kid, back in Toronto, throwing pitches at a nearby
baseball diamond. The kid was 14. Every time he threw the ball,
you'd think it was a propeller and not a human arm. I mean, this
kid had power. There was something weird about his throwing
motion, though...like a slight click, or a pop, at the end of the
pitch release. He seemed fine but there was something a
little off. The more I watched him pitch and the closer I came
to this diamond, I realized that the reason why this kid was
throwing with such thunder and force...was because the
growth plate in his elbow had never properly fused. It's
a medical anamoly. It happens all the time. Kids are put
into little league at a young age. His elbow was not properly
connected, allowing his arm to act like a catapult when he
threw a baseball.
The other day, here in Baltimore, I felt kinda sick. My
staff supervisor blamed a problem on me that was not my
fault. Maybe it was the copious amounts of dark beer and
whiskey in my system from the night before but I let him
have it. I stood with my arms crossed and refused to talk
to 'an imbecilic jerk who wouldn't let me get a word in,
edge-wise'.
A lady who lives two floors down from me, in the same
building, got shot in the leg yesterday. I saw her pass by
me in a stretcher as I was on my to assist with another
surgery. Our eyes connected. I looked away.
I've been here for months. I've been working my ass off.
The longest stretch of time I've had to myself was 36
hours. 36 hours, man. You don't know whether to laugh
or cry. In that 36 hours, a friend came by and we closed out
a local watering hole and saw a hundred more. I don't care
about blood. Some doctors smoke - I drink. Everyone has
a vice. Everyone has a breaking point.
Sometimes, our septic is full but we think it's a different
problem. We try to flush...but it WILL NOT go down.
I miss the sushi bar I frequent (with my lady) where the
owners give us a free bottle of asian wine. The
recession has affected all of us.
Jim Bryson is an unsung hero of this age. If I could play
more of his stuff to depressed patients, I would.
I hope I get out of Baltimore alive. Thank God for friends
and blogs and mental vacations.
