Rebirth

            On Friday morning I translated a few more lines of "Complaint du progress" by Boris Vain.

            I memorized the first verse of “C’est la vie qui veut ca” by Serge Gainsbourg and almost nailed the second verse. I was able to sing it once by itself but not in conjunction with the first verse.

            I washed the bookshelf that sits on the threshold of my living room and kitchen. I also cleaned my amplifier that sits on top of the shelf. Next I'll clean the floor there.

            I had a couple of pork ribs for lunch.

            In the afternoon I did some exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. This was the second half of the two-part story. Andy’s ex-girlfriend is suing him for breach of promise to marry her. He manages to avoid receiving a summons on a few occasions but when a woman comes and flirts with him she turns out to be delivering the summons. In the end Andy’s ex drops the charges.

            I took a bike ride to University and Bloor, south to Queen and then home.

            In the mail was my FIT shit test results informing me that I don’t have colon cancer. They should have a test where you send shitty poetry to a lab to find out if you have brain cancer. Also I received my birth certificate. It has a new design and it looks more like Canadian money. It’s also no longer wallet size. I guess they don’t want me to carry it around with me. Next I can get my Social Insurance Card renewed.

            I finished updating my journal.

            I cut up a butternut squash and boiled it. I had about a third of it for dinner with three pork ribs and a little gravy while watching Wagon Train.

            This story was interesting. Flint has an injured shoulder and so he can’t scout effectively. The Major trades places with him and puts Flint in charge of the wagon train. There are two factions on the train from the two sides of the Civil War. Thaddeus Field leads the northerners. He is fanatical and believes that the north should have laid waste to the south after winning the war. Roy Pelham, who leads the southerners, is decidedly more sensible but he still likes to fly the Confederate flag. Roy is in love with Thaddeus's daughter Harriet but she claims she wants nothing to do with him. Floating philosophically above all of this is John Wilbot, who always carries a book of Shakespeare but never needs to open it because he seems to know every play by heart and has a quote for every occasion. Harriet and John strike up a friendship in which they have long talks. Two young women that are smitten with John take from his wagon his Shakespeare book. Harriet gets it back from them but her father looks at it and finds a newspaper clipping about John Wilkes Booth recent assassination of Abraham Lincoln. There is a conspiracy theory at this time that Booth escaped capture and is still alive. Thaddeus gets the notion that John is actually John Wilkes Booth. When confronted about it John is not desperate to deny it but he does calmly offer alternative possibilities. The northern and southern factions are split over whether to put John in chains. Perhaps just to keep the peace John admits to being Booth. Whether John is lying or not Flint has no choice but to put him in chains until they can turn him over to the authorities. The wagon train is attacked by Shosone and John is released to help fight. During the battle John is mortally wounded. As he is dying he is asked his real identity. He just smiles, says, “My name is John Wi …" and he dies.