Soy sano

UPDATE: I'm been informed that Babel Fish misinformed me about translating "I'm healthy" into Spanish. Here's what I should have called this post from the start:

Estoy sano

Aah, blessed knowledge. I learned from an invasive, and admittedly not too painful, procedure this morning that I'm in good health. The recent bout with hematuria was likely the result of passing a kidney stone. Dr. Engel performed a cystourethroscopy and assured me that it's okay to get back to life as usual.

Most pressing for me was getting the Diet Coke ban lifted. I was told by the folks at Sibley to stop drinking carbonated drinks until the cause of the hematuria was determined* . I've got 32 12oz. cans of decaffeinated ambrosia from Costco sitting in my Florida den. Say, "Word!" Word, I'm sayin'...

Since I'm happy about my health, I'll try to let go of the irk-edness of missing my first 10K.

*I had a list of no-no's from the Sibley ER experience. Dr. Engel pooh-poohed them as ridiculous and unnecessary. My man! "You need to [go jogging] for your mental health, right?" he asked. Claro que si. "I'm addicted to Diet Coke," he said. Yo, tambien.

My Inner Twenty Year-old

I read Matt Bai's article in yesterday's Sunday Times magazine about the YearlyKos conference. While I read a number of lefty blogs daily, I haven't really contemplated taking my online interest offline.

It's an interesting phenomenon to have a daily "interaction" without ever actually meeting folks. What's the equivalent of "all politics is local" for the blogosphere? How do I make more of my thoughts than comments left anonymously on someone's blog? I spent years doing front-line community work driven by all my political notions, and now that I don't do that work, where do I put my notions into practice?

I want to be an engaged citizen in the enterprise of making society more just and equitable, locally and globally. I'm starting to take an active role in neighborhood dialogues, which feels pretty good. At the same time, I want to look at the broader city (DC's a beautiful, complicated mess) and world (likewise beautiful, complicated, messy) and get in the game.

One of my personal barriers to break through is an overriding cynicism. It's a way to justify apathy and keep disappointment at bay when my utopian sentiments don't win out. Maybe if I start connecting my ideals and action, from the neighborhood to city-wide to global spheres, I'll meet like-minded people and in the process let myself be vulnerable and naive enough to resuscitate my inner twenty year-old.

Updated 05.30.06

Blessed Oblivion

Apparently, I'm pretty damn lucky if in fact I passed a kidney stone obliviously. I was talking to someone this morning whose mother passed three kidney stones while she (my friend, not the mother) was in utero-- possibly a contributing factor to their fractious relationship since her mom had to bear the pain sans drugs.

I'll never know the pains of childbirth. Maybe I've been spared the 3-4 week pain of passing a kidney stone, too.

Books

I've been trying to read The Known World, by Edward P. Jones, for some time. I'm finding it hard to commit the requisite time and energy to follow a complex narrative these days. Crosswords, the "express" version of the Washignton Post, and the occasional SI or Harper's article are about as much as I can handle.

One day, I hope to get through some of these.

Yeah, right

Dr. Engel says it won't hurt.

I beg to differ. I'll find out on May 30th.

democracy at the end of a barrel
(draft)

let's riddle democracy with bullets
and arm election monitors with geiger

counters to gauge the half-life
of liberty depleted by uranium-coated

ballot boxes. absentee voters still
breathing after the primary assault

can canvass for candidates under
established rules of engagement in

the door to door war to win
the hearts and minds of the people