Untouchable

            I was still sick overnight into Wednesday morning and had occasional mild coughing fits. I dreamed I had the omicron virus and was trying to memorize the words to an endless song because it would somehow help everyone who was infected. 

            I finished working out the chords to “Amour année zéro” (Love In The Year Zero) by Serge Gainsbourg and ran through the song in French. I still have to spend some time revising my translation before I publish it on my blog. 

            My voice was very weak during song practice and I didn't have the strength to pull it up from my solar plexus. Because of this I was often out of tune and almost talk-singing. By the end I started to feel hoarse. 

            I weighed 85.9 kilos before breakfast.

            I weighed 85.7 kilos before lunch. I had Ritz crackers with five year old cheddar and a glass of raspberry lemonade. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride. I didn't have to bundle up as much as I have lately because it was above freezing. O'Hara and Maple Grove were still fairly snowy but there were clear spaces to ride through. Brock Avenue was very wet in the middle but narrower because of snowbanks on either side as if the banks were squeezing the street for its juice. The Bloor bike lane was clear enough for single file bikes but mine was the only bike anyway. At one point it narrowed to a path about three tires wide. I rode to Bloor and Dovercourt. Dovercourt was fairly messy but maneuverable. There were a couple of traffic jams on the way down and under normal conditions I would have been able to get around the cars but the snow on the sides prevented it so I had to wait. 

            I weighed 85.3 kilos at 16:45. 

            I was mopping up the bike drippings in the hall when my upstairs neighbour Shawn came in. He said he's sick too. He complained that someone has been turning the heat off. I said it's me because I'm trying to regulate the temperature so it doesn't get too hot or too cold. He said his place just has one little radiator and he's from the Caribbean and so he can't stand the cold as much. I said that I would keep in mind the fact that his place is cooler than mine when I regulate the temperature. 

            I read several more pages of Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand. Bakha escapes being of the lowest of classes in his mind by imitating European fashion. One of the military sahibs gives him a hockey stick and he feels unworthy. During the game Bakha scores a goal but it causes a fight between the teams. They begin throwing stones at one another and a little boy on the sidelines is hit. Bakha carries him to his mother but she accuses him of polluting her son by touching him. 

            I copied the pdf of “Modernism and the Politics of Culture” and pasted it into an editable document. I spent some time editing it so only the main points were there. I cut it down to fifteen pages.

            I had a sunny side up egg with warmed up naan and a beer while watching an episode of The Addams Family. This was a Christmas story. The Addamses have a Christmas tree without those annoying needles that's been in the family for years. The neighbour across the street has told Wednesday and Pugsley that there is no Santa Clause. Morticia and Gomez set about to prove there is a Santa by helping Santa out. They rent a Santa suit for Fester and he climbs on the roof but he gets stuck in the chimney. Not realizing Fester is trapped above them, every member of the family decides to acquire a Santa suit. Gomez gives $25000 to rent the costume of a Santa who is collecting donations outside of a mission. He comes to Wednesday and Pugsley's window and gives them what they wanted: a Marie Antoinette doll and a bow and arrow set. But after he leaves Mama comes to their door dressed as Santa and gives them the exact same gifts. Then Lurch comes dressed as Santa and does the same, followed by Cousin Itt dressed as Santa giving the same presents. Then Morticia comes dressed as Santa and does the same. When the kids catch all the Santa's together Fester finally makes it down the chimney. While each is saying the others are impostors, suddenly they notice their tree has been transformed and there are new presents under it. They hear Santa outside flying away. 

            Something similar to this was done on “I Love Lucy.”