Climbin' up the topsailsI LOST MY LEG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going to lay a quote on you with no context.

Because it stands alone.

Just a quote.

A quote that brought several grown-up adults (and me) to their knees.

I am not going to attribute it, except to say it is not mine.

"Well, that's like leaving Mama Cass to guard the ham factory."

It works on so many levels.

G'head, take it out for a test drive.

--

My throat feels better today than it did yesterday.

I can swallow water without significant pain.

Rest and clean livin' will do that for you.

I went to the gym today, which may have been dumb, but I can't just sit around any more.

--

I watched Trainspotting for maybe the 9th time last night.

God, I love that movie.

It ain't exactly Disney fare, but every actor is perfect, especially Ewan MacGregor.

He makes a thieving, morally bankrupt junkie likable.

--

I also met a reader of The Dude Abides for coffee yesterday.

Super guy. Lawyer. A bit disillusioned. Re-located here to Bozeman in June of '05 from the Dirrrty South. Moved here to hike, ski, explore and do some L-I-V-I-N.

Too bad we don't have anything in common.

I think I am going to call him the Counselor until I know him better.

So, hi, the Counselor. It was cool to meet you.

Let's burn some turns at Big Sky the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

--

There is a lot of heavy duty stuff going on in my life right now, and there is a lot of heavy duty stuff going on in the lives of people close to me.

It pretty much colors my every waking moment.

I have spent the last couple weeks struggling with what to write.

I am going to write; it's going through my brain, to my fingers, no matter what happens.

It's just that not all of it is appropriate for The Dude Abides.

I want to continue to write here.

I like it here.

It's a nice, little corner of the internet.

You guys are so cool and nice.

I knew a lot of you personally before I started this blog.

Some of you told your friends, and that is cool.

I have also "met" a whole bunch of really nice people from all walks of life, and from all corners of the globe. (Iraq! Antarctica! Lawyers!)

I have had some great email exchanges with a lot of you that have lifted my spirits and made me laugh.

You guys are awesome.

And I am a dirty pirate hooker.

Everyone knows that is an equation for success. Because when you throw awesome people together with a dirty pirate hooker, well... now, that's a party.

Anyway, I just decided that I would keep writing every day, but that not all of it would go on The Dude Abides.

So, I apologize if there is a gap here and there.

If you can't handle that, you can do like my friend, P. did, and send me your email address. She gets a notification in her email every time there is a new post on The Dude Abides.

So, let me know.

I also know that I promised a few people some links, and I will get to those.

If you link me, and I do not link you, please shoot me an email, and I will put a link up.

Speaking of which...

Check out my friend, Quagmire. He dressed up as a douche for Halloween. For real. And while you are there, scroll down and read his account of his med school class where he learned to do a pelvic exam. Gold, Jerry. Gold.

--

By the way, today's lyrics are courtesy of the Dropkick Murphys. It is called "Shipping Up To Boston." That song is featured on the credits of The Departed, and again, during the climactic scene of the movie.

Eck made the foolish move of putting it on a cd and bringing copies for all of us.

Putting that song in the hands of a guy like me... well, that's like leaving Mama Cass to guard the ham factory.

It is maybe the most awesome song I have heard.

If one of you web-savvy readers can kick out a link, I will put it up... The song is killer. The movie is killer.

It's like peanut butter and jelly.

Enough.

I gotta go.

I am going to figure out how to play "I Want You To Want Me."

Why?

Why not?