Works in Progress
The Professor has kept all his writings since high school. I, on the other hand, burnt my oldest stuff in a fit of pique shortly after high school, and then destroyed the rest of what I had shortly after college. I’d published a little bit when I was young, but had a moment of revelation in college that there were others far better out there and I was only embarrassing myself in public by continuing to write. I didn’t realize at that time that you grow into writing; it isn’t an art you have honed and polished by age 22.
On my way out the door to work this morning, the Prof handed me a short stack of his earliest “rants”. Some of these are five or more single spaced typed pages, typed flawlessly on a traditional typewriter. He was fifteen, sixteen when he wrote them. The tone is definitely high school, but there are glimmers of the writer he is turning into now. I find I regret no longer having my old stuff, to show me that I have progressed.
The promised chapter progresses. It becomes obvious, if this is really going to go anywhere, that this week’s writings will not survive the process intact. It doesn’t matter. As with most other things, it isn’t the destination so much as the trip that turns out to be important.
In other news … it looks like I may have successfully ducked my company’s big picnic a week from Saturday. No one has questioned where my sign-up form has gotten to yet, and the deadline for returning it is now past. Looks like I’ve managed to duck that for another year.
A full year has passed since my big cancer scare. It’s funny, but I probably wouldn’t have even realized this if it hadn’t been for the cancer controversy currently simmering here at DD. I had hoped the scar from last year’s operation would have faded by now, but it’s still fairly red. I have a very pale complexion, and the stupid scar stands out like a great big Nike check on me. I’m over-due for my one year follow-up for this, I’ve suddenly realized. I guess this afternoon I’d best call and set up an appointment to get checked out again.