duck-shaped pain

I had to give the paper a title in order to submit it. I thought up many titles, and rejected them all in favor of one that sounded okay at the time, at least okay enough to maybe get people in to listen to the thing, but now I am reconsidering: "A Better World Through Nut Loaf: American Vegetarianism in the 1960s and 1970s." Didn't I spell "nut" "butt" when I first typed the thing up? Didn't I not notice until a coworker who read the thing for me point the "butt" out?

I was supposed to go out last night, but since I couldn't remember where it was I was supposed to go (the last time I was at this house was more than 10 months ago, and I had drinking at the time), and I did not have a phone number for anyone at this house, it just didn't happen. I stayed at home and read instead and watched bad TV. I was also supposed to work this weekend, if necessary, but I have yet to be called in. Even though I keep telling myself that I need to work as many hours as possible, due to dental bills and taxes and making up for the fact that I received no paycheck for December or January, the prospect of not having to work at all this weekend is making me near-giddy.

My pants are all getting too large for me. Not too large in the falling-off-my-ass sense, but more in the more-comfort-than-one-really-needs sense. I can still wear these pants, which is good, because finding replacements will be difficult. My current collection of pants has been carefully assembled over the years, due to my stringent criteria for what, exactly, makes proper pants. Proper pants must not be tapered at the ankle, nor must they flare out like the wings of a majestic bird. They must not be pleated. They must not ride really low on my ass. And, most of all, they must fit my tiny, stubby little legs, the ones that make me have to shop in the petite department for pants, even though I am 5'8". At least the impending warm weather means it will be cropped-pants season soon, the time of year where I do not have to worry excessively about inseams.

However, I did have a decent bit of news in the pants department last week. I have one special favorite pair of jeans, ones that fit all the requirements above. However, they are being discontinued by the manufacturer (at least in my size), which saddens me terribly. I have been looking for reliable jeans for years, and had been glad to find these, since I could just buy any random pair of them anywhere and they would fit. But now they are disappearing. I went to the mall the other day, where one of the stores had them on clearance, because I was determined to buy some in smaller sizes so that I would have them ready for me once I made it down to those sizes. Unfortunately, the supply of jeans was seriously depleted by the time I got there, and they only had one pair in, in a size smaller than I wear now. I figured that they wouldn't fit me now, but I decided to try them on anyway, and surprisingly enough, they did. I was very happy. Walking two to three miles a day has been very good for me.

previous | next