Mungo's Christmas

Today, beginning at midnight, I was at The Pioneer Bar on 4th Ave with Thomas (ex-radio commentator for AlAskA's public radio), Marly (Los Angels transplant working on some crumbling local cookie), "The Father" (Marly's Cheech look-alike pops), and Kalimah (a USA resident who happens to be from the past of many states including Texas, Illinios, Washington, and New York). We talked about human relations, insurance, "A Christmas Story," rock a roll, "Hamlet," the Spanish Civil War, and Charles Dickens. No foolin' we did.

I drove Kalimah to her apartment where she gathered a gift for a teen-ager I do not know and a box of things that rattled to my confusement. She did not explain what was inside. We drove over to Mary and Brian's apartment. Mary and Brian work at the Village Inn on Spenard and are away visiting Mary's parents in some valley. I told Kalimah that I didn't know where that valley was and she said, "Me either." I asked, "Is it in AlAskA?" Kalimah said, "I think it is." Kalimah then made two consecutive pots of Christmasween Eve top Ramon. We ate and drank English Breakfast tea, wishing we had brandy to pour into our steamy cups. We then watched "The Count of Monte Cristo" starring Richard Maul... er... Guy Peirce, and liked it so much that we found a copy of it on Mary's bookcase and read the first 100 pages out loud to each other. When she fell asleep, I drove home.

Once home, I took off my pants.

When I had picked up my guitar and strumed a tester "C" chord for quality finger placement in the dark, the phone rang. It was Kalimah, she left the teen-ager's present in my car. I put my pants back on and drove back to Mary's house on 40th Ave and returned both the present AND Kalimah's purse. Then I drove home.

I played myself three of my own songs, "Silk Wallet Wardrobe, "Ode to Modesty," and "The Mancalla Song" in the dark, took my pants back off and went to sleep. I woke up several times to pee.

At 4 p.m. I decided to get my lazy toes moving around and I drank what was left of a very old Coca-Cola Classic in the fridge. Then I thought of Mallory, who was probably doing the same thing where ever it is that she lives with her fridge. Then I laid back down and tried to convice myself that it really was worth while to be out of my bed. I decided to call my family who I knew would be at my grandmother's farm north of Milaca, MN. They were all there. I talked to my grandmother first (we talked about weather and ham), then to my mother (we talked about the clock and shirts she sent me), then to my sister Meghan (we talked about college and David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest"), then to my father (we talked about my car payments), then to my sister Caitlin (we talked about the frailty of the human spirit). My brother Ryan wished me a "Merry Christmas" through Caitlin, and my uncle Bruce announced that he would talk to me another day. The only other family members that were not present for Christmas this year were my cousin Lindsay (the one that was stationed at Eilson when I PCS'd to AlAskA in 1999) who was in North Branch, MN with her husband Steve and their daughter, Loren, and my uncle Lane and his wife Sandy. Sandy has terrific phobias about people, and she never gathers with the tribe.

It is now 11:22 p.m. and I'm drinking coffee that I boiled on the stove.
Boiling water + raw coffee grounds = Cowboy Coffee.
In a minute or two I will go back to the project I started a few hours ago in my room. I am putting all my old posters on the wall, affixing them with electrical tape. My laundry has finished drying and plan to hang my dry clothes on hangers in my massive closet. I might eat some Triscuts later as well, but I haven't fully committed myself to that yet.

Did everyone get their copy of Solid Mud Forum 3-2? I hope so. I'm working on 3-3 now. I was hoping to have it done by the end of the year. If anyone would like to submit anything, now would be the time. Even if you just have a paragraph or two that you would like to write, that would be fine. Possible subjects could be anything, like, "How to Dust for Anthrax," or "The Effects of Gasoline on Fire," or even "How I got the Shaft on my Free Time." Whatever you want, really. Go ahead, get crazy go nuts.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Song of the day: "Butterfly" - Mason Jennings

p.s.
If anyone is looking for a late Christmas present for me, consider this:
http://store.yahoo.com/homestarrunner/dvddvddvd.html

p.p.s.
And if anyone is looking a good way to re-finance what you've got, re-consider this:
http://www.homestarrunner.com/senormortgage.html