All our lives we sweat and save, building for a shallow grave, must be something else we say

I just finished reading Jennifer Egan's brilliant A Visit From The Goon Squad. Its themes of aging and the loss of innocence moved me in ways I wasn't prepared for, but I'm not sure it can be said I was prepared for anything. I went into the book knowing it was lauded, but not expecting anything from it. It's a very good book. J.E., you are a titan of the written word.

Had a dream last night that mostly took place in a very large house I was staying in. It was late at night, Craig was there hanging out with Bruce Springsteen (I remember thinking, "Oh, Springsteen's here", in such a way that suggested A. he'd been around before and B. he was a bit of a pain in the ass), a horde of hipsters invaded the premises, Matt among them wearing a mask, and chaos ensued. Outside the house, Matt pulled out a gun and applied it to the side of someones head, execution style. I yelled "No, Matt!", but he didn't hear me. My body tensed in anticipation of the gun's report and my mind braced for the gruesome shock of seeing someones brains being blown out. Nothing happened. Matt ran over to a fence and doffed the mask he'd been wearing; he was smiling as if it were all a game. I made my way through the ghostly throng of revelers towards Matt with the aim of chastising him, but I never made it.

Time leaped forward. It was later in the morning, the sun was out and I was entering a church. I saw Janelle in one of the pews, there was space to sit next to her, but I sensed she was waiting for someone else and sat near the front between two women I vaguely knew who seemed to be interested in me. I awoke before the mass began. I wonder about those women.
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Stopped by work this morning to pick up some docs I need to record in Cambridge tomorrow and then went out to lunch with my parents. We went to a new restaurant in town, where I had an avocado and tofu sandwich, and later, back at their house, we talked about the swift, unstoppable current of technological progress. My mother reiterated how distressing all this change is to her. She's not alone: there are many feeling overwhelmed and disoriented by it. Ah, but life is nothing but change; every single aspect of it is stamped with impermanence. We can choose to avoid this fact, but the fact remains. I didn't say any of this to her. She knows, we all know, but we deny it, look the other way. Instead, I told her how sexy she's looking these days. No, I did not say that, either, but I might the next time I see her. Don't judge, readers.

When I came home, I practiced yoga for an hour and then made a salad with kale, mixed greens, chopped watermelon, organic red grapes, red onion, grape tomatoes, avocado, mushrooms, shredded carrots, and crabbed meat with my new favorite, wasabi mayonnaise. Needless to say, I feel as hale and robust as a mountain goat ready to mate with his one true love.

And now, I leave you, but I will be back. I offer you the sage words of Kiss to sustain you until my next post.

Well, we work all day and we don't know why
Well, there's just one thing that money can't buy  
When your body's been starved feed your appetite 
When you work all day, you gotta "Uh!"all night