David Copperfield

            On Wednesday morning I revised my translation of the first verse of "J'ai pas d'regret" (I've No Regrets) by Boris Vian to make it fit better as a song verse matching the rhythm of the French version. 

            I memorized the second and third verses of "D'un taxiphone" (From a Payphone) by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            I weighed 84.1 kilos before breakfast. 

            I got up to page sixty of David Copperfield. David comes home from the holiday by the sea to find his mother has married Mr. Murdstone. Rather than establishing a relationship of trust, Murdstone immediately tells David that he will beat him if he is not obedient. His loving relationship with his mother changes because now she can only be secretly affectionate with her son. 

            I went up to neighbour David's apartment to check on his plant and to make sure that the water is still running. Its a bit disappointing that I probably won't see his snakes but he says they are old and sleep a lot. David's place is incredibly cluttered. Even his kitchen counter, which is half the space of mine is totally covered with stuff. I don't know how he cooks anything as there is no room to prepare food. He seems to be a chronic packrat far worse than I have ever been. I wonder if it comes from a childhood of having to pull up roots in Africa and then leave for Italy. Maybe he had to leave a lot behind and he feels compelled to overcompensate by accumulating stuff. He's had an electric scooter locked out on the deck for ten years and has made no effort to fix it up and probably never will. His rosemary didn't need watering. I'll check again on Friday. 

            I weighed 84 kilos before lunch. I had rice crackers with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of half lemonade and half cranberry juice. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 

            I weighed 83.7 kilos at 17:15. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:15. 

            I got up to page 95 of David Copperfield. David has always learned well, but now that Mr. Murdstone and his sister are in charge of his education he stumbles. When Murdstone beats David for failing at his lessons, David bites him. Because of this David is sent away to school. At a restaurant on the way he encounters a waiter who eats and drinks everything that is meant for David. At the school David is forced to wear a sign on his back declaring that he bites. 

            I had a fried egg sunny side up, and warmed up naan with a beer while watching season 4, episode 5 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            The Clampetts plan on going back home for Possum Day because Granny wants to run for queen and finally win after 47 tries. Mrs. Drysdale offers to take care of their house while they are gone. As soon as the Clampetts pull out of the driveway she begins putting up "for sale" signs, taking advantage of the fact that her husband is out of town to get away with it. 

            But Drysdale has returned early and discovers Margaret's plan. He wants to intercept the Clampetts before they make it back to Tennessee but finds them in his office. He promises a bigger Possum Festival in Beverly Hills than they have back in the Tennessee Hills, but he can't get city hall to go along with it. He tries Pasadena and other neighbouring towns but his proposal is rejected. Meanwhile Granny has begin to campaign to be crowned Possum Queen. 

            I got up to page 99 of David Copperfield. It turns out that the other boys did not submit David to as much ridicule as he'd expected over the sign he'd been forced to wear and they became friends. 

            I searched for bedbugs and found an almost invisible nymph crawling to the left side of the old exit door at the head of my bed. So far since pest control was here last Friday every bedbug I've seen was in the same area.