Chrisonomicon
Journal & Weblog Write to Save Your Life August 25, 2003

Booklog

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
My mother is standing in front of the bathroom mirror smelling polished and ready; like Jean Nate, Dippity Do and the waxy sweetness of lipstick.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Salinas Valley is in Northern California.

The Straw Men by Michael Marshall
Palmerston is not a big town, nor one that can convincingly be said to be at the top of its game.

Vineland by Thomas Pynchon
Later than usual one summer morning in 1984, Zoyd Wheeler drifted awake in sunlight through a creeping fig that hung in the window, with a squadron of blue jays stomping around on the roof.

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
In 1517, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, feeling great pity for the Indians who grew worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines, proposed to Emperor Charles V that Negroes be brought to the isles of the Caribbean, so that they might grow worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines.

Finished

 
Howard Dean for President, 2004

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posted Tuesday, June 19, 2001

Bridges

If you drive north on the local interstate from my town, eventually you'd cruise under a newly built bridge. It's impressively large, spanning across a river, a frontage road, and the highway in one graceful sweep. It's almost done being built.

Where the bridge crosses the interstate, there's a fence standing guard along the edges. It's tall, so people have difficult access to the speeding traffic below. Jumpers or stray rocks would have to climb at least eight feet to cause major catastrophe.

Letting your eyes be seduced by the gentle arc of the bridge, they'd wander lazily to the west, following it across the ravine and river. There is no fence guarding the edges on this side of the bridge. It's curious, at least, that planners would protect speeding traffic on the highway, but not a jumper or the water and wildlife below.

Had they merely overlooked the fence, thinking no one would jump? Or was it too expensive to include an extra 100 yards of fencing? In my mind, I kept hearing the city planner's voice in the back of my head:

"At least she jumped over the river. Can you imagine what a mess it would've caused if she had jumped over the interstate? Good thing we put those fences in."

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Chris Paul

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Colorado, USA

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