Still Breathing

Quick Update of things past:

1. Caught 117 bats at the same site we previously caught 80. Nobody got bit this time. Very hectic, with only 5 of us to mistnet and process (and only 2.5 of us any good at it)
2. Gas Monkey came down to visit last weekend. Exciting stuff. Went to the Hogle Zoo, which was pretty impressive in their Asian Highlands exhibit. Went fly fishing and camping two nights. I caught two Brook Trout, in immediate succession. Gas Monkey caught many more. Did not keep any fish. Yeah I know, we catch them and throw them back, and they could get infections and die. But their chances of survival are better than if we kept them and ate them . . . I think.

Other exciting moments:

1. Db hooked me up with probably the only coffee house in Provo. Thank you Db for further aiding my descent into sin. Just kidding.
2. Gas Monkey and I were camping. It had been a late night. I forgot the pillow, so we each had to use our pants as pillows (clean those dirty thoughts). Gas Monkey arose earlier than I, so I stole his pants to boost my pillow power. Throughout the morning (after all, I generally sleep until noon), I heard enthusiastic calls from outside of my tent. The calls generally sounded like this: "Hey, get up! I'm walking in my boxers out here!" A little later. "Hey, hurry up! I'm cold in my boxers out here!" A lot later. "Hey, get up! I'm fishing in my boxers! I need my pants! I can't believe you're making me fish in my boxers!" And my thoughts, the whole time, were as follows: "That's nice." I think he got some kind of secret thrill out of being half-naked in the woods, because he could have just taken his pants from me. But he didn't, so he must have enjoyed the breeze.
3. I just dropped another $300 on my car. This time it was the gas filler pipe (?). Whatever the pipe is that connects the gas spout to the tank. Awesome. So for those not counting, since I purchased my car at the end of last March, I have replaced the CV axles and differentials ($400), the master cylinder ($300), and now the pipe thingy ($300). Not to mention the mystery brake problem I'm having, or the power steering pump that the dealer was supposed to overhaul, but did not. I'm trying to predict what will break down next, and I'm guessing it will either be the transmission or the clutch, because those seem like the most expensive things to repair. The mechanic called me and told me that "The filler pipe was all rusted and leaky." My reply was "Yup, that sounds like my car. Rusty and leaky."

Finally, I'm reading a lot of Oscar Wilde, because he is just such a delightful dandy, and I truly admire his sense of art and wit. The true tragedy of his legacy is that if people know of him, they know solely of his being convicted of "gross indecencies" in Great Britain. Quite unfortunate. Here is a short passage I recently read of his that I thought quite clever.

"Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they will appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualifications. Our Guildensterns play Hamlet for us, and our Hamlets have to jest like Prince Hal. The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast." - Lord Arthur Savile's Crime

That sounds depressing, but I do not mean it to be. I happen to enjoy tragicomedies. Thanks for reading.