Tuesday, June 10, 2003

It occurred to me after

It occurred to me after a particularly heavy and satisfying meal this weekend (yes, we went to Q again, Tanja was in town for dinner, I finally had the ribs, they are superb) that “bloat” is a really effective word.  Lying on my back, a glass of seltzer untouched by my side, I just rolled that word around in my head and it carried a lot of power.  It’s one of those words that seems to have the very characteristics it describes.  It sounds distended.  As you can imagine, this was a source of endless fascination to me as I slowly digested my enormous meal.  And my egg cream from Toy Boat.  I mean, it was right there.  I had no choice. 

Then this morning I start hearing more about Monkey Pox.  You know, prariedog Monkey Pox from asia, appearing on this continent for the first time.  I’m thinking, now that’s a disease name you can get behind.  Nothing there sounds even remotely good.  That whole SARS thing was not working for me, I’m sorry.  Terrible name.  Never really cared.  But Monkey Pox?  You have my attention.  And if you tell me that it’s a syndrome, associated also with Monkey Bloat, I’m buying saran wrap, duct tape, face masks, rubber gloves, and a water distillation machine.  As far as I’m concerned, the terrorists have won.