Post-Op

I'm feeling pretty good. The surgery was just magical. I've had nitrous oxide before. I can remember giggling while watching the surgeon pull membranes out from under the base of my tongue. This was different. I had the drip. I didn't even have time to see where they put it in my arm, though. I was out almost instantly. It was like the switch went from "on" to "off" with one little poke. I woke up 20 minutes later feeling like I had been asleep for three seconds. Unbelievable. They did an incredible job, too, or it could be that I'm just a lucky S.O.B. I have had zero swelling and zero pain. I remember my sister had to hold her bloated cheeks up with her hands for an entire week. She was popping vicodins like M&M's, and she kept complaining about how it seemed like she was sucking on a bar of copper. That's not even the worst of it. Within a week, she developed dry socket, which is when the underlying bones and nerves become exposed. She had to go in for a second surgery and everything. I don't know if she ate anything but bloody mashed potatoes this August. I just finished a sandwich :D.

Haven't been up to much. Hung out with my cousins yesterday. My cousin Johnny is 22, so three years older than me. We've always gotten along pretty well. He was telling me about how his university is on strike, leaving all the students in some kind of weird academic purgatory. Two classes shy of graduating and already enjoying a second "victory lap," as he calls it, my cousin seems to have been royally fucked. Although, he didn't seem that crestfallen. I guess there really is no reason for him to be particularly bitter about the whole fiasco. It truly is out of his hands. It's probably just best for him to keep rolling with the punches until it works itself out.

Been watching a lot of movies. I'm imposing some sort of quota on myself for my last week at home because I haven't finished my book yet. I thought I'd be done with the fucking series by now. Saw Memento today. Fantastic movie. I really liked the Non-linear story-telling and all the twists and turns. Terrific climax, as well. The hour-and-a-half of head scratching is worth it. The ending had a unique feeling, as well. Far from hopeful, but not quite bleak, I guess it was just thought-provoking. I also finally bit the bullet and sat through The fucking Godfather. DO NO TAKE THE GODFATHER'S NAME IN VAIN, haha, I know. It's so canonical and sacrosanct, I don't even deserve to watch it. However, I feel that if we all took the time to watch it again, we might want to chip off a couple stars. IT'S SO FUCKING LONG. The whole middle part of the movie is stupid filler. Why does Michael need to start a family in Sicily? I cheered when that car bomb went off. That said, I liked the bravura performances from Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. The rise of Michael Corrleone did not go unappreciated. I really liked the scene in Vegas when Michael straightens Freddy out. There was great tension there as we see Michael put on the Don pants.

My uncle got me an Ipod yesterday, and it's next to useless until I can figure out how to remove these fucking DRM tags. I have about six-thousand legitimately acquired music files that can't be transferred to iTunes for downloading to my Nano until I get rid of the tags. The bitch of it is, there's tons of free software out there to jettison the tags, but I feel like my computer is one piece of shareware away from tripping the smoke alarms. The search continues...

I realized I haven't written about my mental state in awhile, which is a shame because sometimes I think it educes the best writing from myself. Hm, I guess I'm growing more and more indifferent. Living for today? More like ignoring tomorrow. I'm driftwood; I'm dead leaves. Take me where thou wilt! The straps are starting to loosen, the shackles break. There's less and less tying me to anything. Whichever. Whatever. Whenever. A couple weeks ago, I was upset with the classes waiting for me in Ann Arbor. Now, I could really care less. Sometimes I think this could be good for me. Am I learning to relax? Is faith making a resurgence? Funny, I don't feel lazy yet, by any means. Can apathetic people be active? It's weird how horrible a stigma laziness carries in this country. Every new generation is condemned for its laziness. Anyone who doesn't succeed is lazy. But really, what's so bad about it? Aren't robots the only things that work without incentive? Once survival is taken care of, shouldn't we slack off? Isn't it a bit deserved? I used to have such grand hopes for myself. Whatever I was going to do, I was going to be the best at it, I was going to write the book on it; people were going to fly me from half-way around the world to do it, classes would be taught about me doing it. Now, I feel like Lester from American Beauty. I'm like regressing into a sixteen-year-old drive thru attendant, who relishes his responsibility-less job.

This may very well be my last post before 2009, which will probably be one of the most important years of my life. Can't wait to get started.