Ronald Bergan, �The Coen Brothers�
My town�s version of an art house cinema has been hosting midnight movies for the last two years or so. Despite having way too much reliance on The Big Lebowski, they�ve managed to play a lot of other good things. Personally, I�ve gone to screenings for Evil Dead II, Blue Velvet, Am�lie, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and two showings of The Nightmare Before Christmas. There�s probably some others that I went to which I�m forgetting.
Anyway, they announced the new schedule. On August 20, they�re playing Brazil. That�s two days before classes start in Hawaii. And I�m reading the list and thinking, �Well, I was planning on getting the fuck out of here, but now I�m staying.�
Having to repost all the old entries, especially lately, has made me wonder about what some of the people who have joined my buddy list over the last six to eight months must think about my horrible luck. (People who joined my buddy list in the last six to eight months say �HO!!!�) I mean, seriously, in this relatively small timespan I�ve broken my collarbone, had two bags and four books stolen, got my savings account wiped out, and was robbed at the bookstore. And of course, there�s the entire girlfriend thing. So I'm wondering if you people think that I'm cursed.
Because I am, I just want to make sure I'm clear about this when I write about it.
For contrast, some good things happened. For instance, I...
Wait a minute...
No really, there were a couple of things. Let me just poke around earlier entries.
Aha! I got to see Victim�s Family with NoMeansNo. I also snuck into Flogging Molly. And I was accepted by the University of Hawaii.
Well, guess what?
I went back to the doctor today for my collarbone. If you look at the X-Ray, you can see how the bones were swimming around loose in my shoulder, though the fragments seemed to be overlapping. When I first went in, the doctor was nonchalant about it. �Yep,� he said, �you broke the collarbone. Here�s a sling, we�ll see you in a month.�
Today, he looked at the X-Ray and moved his thumb around the bones. They are fusing together, but the overlap is still there, protruding a little over a full inch and angling out like it wants to escape from my chest.
Since I do have a fair amount of mobility in my arm he was trying to be optimistic about it, but he listed my options. I could have them re-break it, which I already told them they wouldn�t do without a fight, and a fight where I�d be concentrating on breaking their bones. I could do surgery, which in cases like this have a low success rate, along with a big gnarly scar. Or, I could start to try and use my arm normally. Ideally, the motion will erode away the protruding bone and the sudden shortening of my skeletal frame won�t have any adverse effects. �With any luck,� he added.
We�ve discussed my luck.
�And if that doesn�t happen?� I asked.
�We go back to the first two options,� he replied. �Or, you might just have limited usage in that arm. Personally, I want to give it another month to see what happens. If things go smoothly, you�ll be back to normal in a year.�
A year.
The doctor already commented he was one day away from going on vacation. He seemed excited about it, and thus every word out of him seemed overly enthusiastic. I could easily see him strapped to a crucifix and breaking out into song about looking on the bright side of life. I don�t have such a cheery outlook on things, probably because I still haven�t figured out how to get the last nail in. I asked for worst case scenarios.
The bone fragment could saw its way through my chest. If it decided to go the other way it could puncture my lung. If it doesn�t erode, it will wear away at the tendons inside until I have no protective layer of muscle on my shoulder. In any case, there isn�t much of anything that they can do. As trite as it sounds, time is supposed to be my healer.
Just to make me a poster child about the need for universal health care, if I go to Hawaii, I leave my job. That means I no longer have insurance if something does go wrong. And as of now, it�s a pre-existing condition.
I have no idea what I should do. I�m trying to keep in mind how much I like Brazil.
But I already own the Criterion DVD box set.
