It's All New To Me

“Another day in paradise” was his inevitable pronouncement when he settled his head on his pillow. Now I understood what that meant: the uneventful day was a precious gift.

-Abraham Verghese
CUTTING FOR STONE

Twenty-five years ago today:

June 24, 1987
Wednesday

Stephanie broke our lunch date for today. C’est la vie.

Julie Roth called me and postponed our lunch date. We will now meet next Tuesday. It’s just as well.

I felt fat today. I’ve been feeling that way for some reason. I am right to feel this way. I need to get more fit. I did go bicycling after work. I felt fat while I was pedaling to ‘Free Nelson Mandela’. I love that song.

Ma and I went to PATUSCO’s but they took forever to wait on us. We decided to leave and just ate at SIZZLER; whereby, Thelma, a fat, black waitress serviced us and she was just as bad.

I had told Mike Miller I’d give him a phone call about coming over to my place. However, it was getting rather late, so I didn’t. Oh well, I’ll make up for it. I know he needs to talk things out over his recent break-up.

Chris Cordellos called me.
“I’m going camping this weekend!”
“How fun,” Chris exclaimed.
“Yeah, I even bought marshmallows and some needed camping gear at Walgreen’s. It’s all new to me...this camping scene.”

I went to bed alone, went to bed with my thoughts—I felt older than my x years.
LIFE is full of signs. The trick is to know how to read them. Heuristics, a method for solving a problem for which no formula exists.
I’d developed my own heuristics, my mix of reason, intuition, facial appearance, and scent. These were things not in any book.
For a man who prided himself on “the three Ls: LOVING, LEARNING, and LEGACY,” he’d excelled in all three.
-Abraham Verghese
CUTTING FOR STONE