The Explorers Club
No. CLIV - Theseus, Part II: Trouble with the ladies—Helen of Troy, Hippolyta of the Amazons, & Phaedra—and time imprisoned in Hades.








Operation AXIOM
Today 'twas the Feast of All Saints, the morrow bring the Feast of All Souls. Say a prayer for all your departed kith & kin, that the Lord God might have mercy on their souls, forgive them their sins, and allow them into His Presence.

Operation ÖSTERREICH
Things took a most unexpected twist this past week. When I attended the Women's Flat Track Roller Derby Club basketball game on the Wednesday before last—recounted in this past Wednesday's Project MERCATOR update—a chap invited me to take a more active role in the club, which is one and the same with the Flint City Derby Girls, by becoming a referee. As I could not think of a good reason to decline his invitation, I accepted, though I cautioned him that as my family would be returning from out of state on the date of the next practice—last Sunday, 25 October—I very well might not be able to attend until the following Sunday—today. But when I called him from the road the confirm that I wouldn't be able to attend the 6:00 P.M. practice, he cheerfully informed me the session had been moved to 9:00; to my chagrin, I would be able to attend. I may recount the experience in fuller detail later, but for now suffice it to say that I made it out of the experience alive, though not whole, and I can't wait to give it another try!

In the course of one or more of my several falls, I twisted the high holy heck out of my right ankle. (I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on T.V.; so, I can't be more medically specific than that.) That it was the awkwardness of the falls, not the skating itself, that injured my ankle is evidenced by the perfect condition of my left ankle. I've limped around for the last week, though my not at all selfish and self-absorbed father didn't notice until today. My ankle is stiffest and most painful in the mornings, but improves throughout the day. My ankle improved steadily throughout the week, but Operation ÖSTERREICH has still been derailed all this time. But with my ankle on the mend life was returning to normal…

Project MERCATOR
…Until last night. I went to the ska show telling myself that I was not going to skank. The crowd was sure to be small, the chances of attaining the critical mass necessary for dancing seemed slight. Plus, the layout of the KIVA room, a series of broad, carpeted steps, did not seem as if it would be conducive to dancing. I thought I'd stand and sway and clap and hoot and holler. But, then came the third song, "Becca's Song," and I felt compelled to skank. I got up from my seat on one of the broad, carpeted steps, shuffled off to the side where there would be no danger of accidentally kicking anyone in the head, and began to skank. Even as I danced, I felt the week's healing of my right ankle coming undone, yet I kept going. Even though my ankle surged with pain every time my right foot came down, it felt so great to be skanking again! (I had not skanked at a show in over two years, not since the Reel Big Fish-Less Than Jake-Blue Tree Whacking extravaganza of August '07: Wayback Machinelink. Too damn long.)

Last night and this morning, my ankle felt worse than it had last Sunday or last Monday morning, worse than it had at any earlier point in the injury. I mowed the lawn today, picking up leaves, which I expected to be sheer murder. Instead, I sit here feeling much improved. Make no mistake, I am still injured, and my ankle is clearly more injured than it was yesterday afternoon before the show & the skanking, but I am astonished by the progress since this morning; Mass was a particular chore, the Catholic ceremony being so full of elevation and orientation changes (sit, stand, sit, stand, kneel, stand, process, kneel, sit, stand). The morning, should it follow pattern, bring a regression into stiffness and tenderness, but more progress should be made throughout the day.

Science! & Operation AXIOM
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration gets into the spirit of Halloween: exoplanetarylink.

Science!

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Real Can of Yams, "Shiver Me Timbers" from CODENAME: Koala (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I am so proud to have been a part of this madness.

"A bottle of run, a keg of ale,
Look out, boys, we're settin' sail!
Grab your sword and grab your gun,
A pirate's life is so much fun!"

Samstag, 21 Oktober
Michael Jackson, "Thriller" from Thriller (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: In the year in which we lost the King of Pop and by that loss gained a new appreciation for why he'd been the King, really, what other song could have been Halloween's R.B.D.S.O.T.D.?

"And grisly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom.
And though you fight to stay alive,
You body starts to shiver.
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the Thriller."

Doom!

Freitag, 30 Oktober
They Might Be Giants, "Why Must I Be Sad?" from John Henry (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Really, by Friday I had shaken Thursday's funk, but I'd already selected "Why Must I Be Sad?" as Friday's R.B.D.S.O.T.D. and saw no sufficient reason to make a change. Plus, "Why Must I be Sad?" isn't even really about sadness; so, weeeeee!

"So I'm writing everything down in a spiral notebook." Like my journal!