Friday, 14 February 2020

Don't Worry! That Voice You Hear is Not Your Conscience. You're Just Mentally Ill



            On Thursday morning I didn't notice that it was any easier to walk or stand than it had been on Wednesday but Wednesday had been an improvement on Tuesday. I was okay with a plateau for a day or so as long as it wasn't getting worse.
            I finished working out the chords for “J’entend des voix off” (I Hear Them Mouth Off) by Serge Gainsbourg and ran through the song in French and English.
            I worked on updating my journal.
            I had roasted peanuts and yogourt for lunch.
            I worked more on my journal.
            Since I would have to work that night and there would be no time to cook dinner at the usual time I started grilling pork ribs in the early afternoon.
            I turned the oven off when I took a siesta and then flipped the ribs and turned the oven back on. I also boiled my last potato.
            I worked for Yang Cao at OCADU. They were working on portraiture and so I didn't have to bother to take my clothes off, which is better for a night class because then it doesn't take me as long to leave and get home.
            Yang seemed frustrated that his students are not understanding alignment. He told them they'd better learn it now before the bad habits become ingrained.
            I got caught up on my journal.
            About a third of Yang’s students are Chinese and when he instructs them one on one he speaks in their common language. He seems friendlier and smiles more when he's speaking Chinese.
            Yang plays generic soft jazz in the background while he’s teaching and only one student was listening with headphones to her own music.
            Yang let me off five minutes early and I was out of there before the half hour.
            It was biting cold when I left the college. On the way home the freeze was burning my face and pinching my nostrils.
            I had a late dinner of a potato, pork ribs and gravy while watching Zorro.
            In this story Sgt Garcia returns to Los Angeles after having been away for two weeks. He had ridden to escort Padre Simeon back from the port on his return from Spain. The padre had gone to Spain to collect a sacred golden chalice for his church. But on returning they find that much of Los Angeles including the garrison has been quarantined because of a measles epidemic. The only soldier not infected is Corporal Reyes and so he has to live in a small tent outside of the garrison gate. That means that the very large Sergeant Garcia has to share the tent, which pushes Reyes outside. During the day Garcia forces Reyes to parade by himself in preparation for the upcoming annual military day. Meanwhile the padre comes home and proudly shows his servant Carlos the chalice. Carlos however is a reformed criminal and he has a relapse upon seeing the golden object. He forces the padre into a cabinet and locks it. Then he puts a measles quarantine sign on the door of Simeon's home and makes off with the chalice. When Diego comes to see the padre he finds it strange that the priest would have contracted measles so quickly after returning to Los Angeles. He ignores the quarantine sign and goes inside to find the padre still alive but weak from lack of oxygen. When Diego learns that Carlos has stolen the chalice Zorro pursues him and finds him in a foundry about to melt the chalice down. Because Simeon had put so much faith in Carlos, Zorro does not treat him as he does his usual opponents and rather appeals to his conscience. Carlos attacks and Zorro evades Carlos, flips him and lightly fights with him until Carlos finally agrees to return the chalice. Zorro lets him go but makes sure that Carlos sees that he is still being watched. Carlos returns the chalice.

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