I just flipped the page on my “Monty Python” wall calendar to find that November is apparently “Masturbators of History” Month. I think maybe I should consider taking the calendar down when my parents visit next Thursday.
Day: November 1, 2002
I wonder: can I ask my rental agency to reimburse me for all the frozen food I’ll be throwing away because I was without electrical power for about nineteen hours? The milk and eggs were on their way out anyway (the former’s sell-by date, for instance, is tomorrow), but last week I did about twice as much grocery shopping as I normally do and, for the first time, actually filled my freezer. I don’t like the idea of paying to do that all over again (minus those dreadful frozen fried clams, of course), but I also don’t want to play “Guess Which Refrozen Package is Still Safe to Eat”. At ten o’clock last night, the freezer was cold, but not icy, and I’m not sure if anything had ice crystals in it still (which is how they say to check if it’s safe). I only know that the ice cream was melted earlier in the evening. If I write up a list and show my landlord the receipt, do you think I can get a discount on next month’s rent?
Time again for the Friday Five:
1. Were you raised in a particular religious faith? Roman Catholic
2. Do you still practice that faith? Why or why not? I have attended Mass maybe only one or two times since high school, so no, I don’t still practice. Why not? The short answer is four years of Catholic school followed by the freedom of college. The other answer is that I’ve seen nothing to indicate that one faith is right while others are wrong. On the other hand, I’ve seen nothing to indicate that there isn’t a god of some sort.
3. What do you think happens after death? People mourn. Bodies are buried. I don’t know if anything happens to the person who dies. Heaven, hell, reincarnation, a void — I really just don’t know. People who claim to know with any authority are, I think, full of it.
4. What is your favorite religious ritual (participating in or just observing)? I don’t know. It’s been years since I’ve participated or observed.
5. Do you believe people are basically good? Yes. And no. I think we are capable of good and great kindnesses but that it’s easier to be weak and petty and mean. It’s tough to do the right thing, or even sometimes to know what that is. I think, at heart, people are good, though I don’t think I believe the “made in god’s image”, “best of all his creations” party line anymore.
Electrical power was finally restored to my building around 10 pm last night. At least I know that whatever food I may have lost in the refrigerator to melting and spoilage — milk, orange juice, and eggs, but should I just give all my frozen food up as lost? — has been replaced by a much-too-plentiful supply of apparently scented candles. And so my apartment, which for awhile smelled like a French Mint Glade Plugin (a mistake, believe me) now smells like gardenia. Just so you know.
I spent Halloween doing…well, nothing. After 5 pm, when I got home, I angrily stormed off to buy candles, batteries for my flashlight, and then dinner (since cooking of any sort was out). I was tempted to drive back to campus, since the local science fiction club was apparently screening “The Exorcist”, and I thought that might be fun. But I decided I didn’t want to wade into the traffic of Halloween parties — parking on campus is tough enough as it is — and, with no electricity and therefore no alarm clock, I thought it would probably be better if I went to sleep early. I read some (very little actually, dropping Harry Potter for Tolkein and eventually nodding off, bored by both); I listened to NPR on my walkman; and around 10 PM I found myself watching an episode of “ER” (ostensibly because I’m a fan of guest-star Don Cheadle, but mostly because, ooh, electricity).
I had no trick-or-treaters. It was a very boring night.