Vicodin, Trimoxicillin, Ibuprofin, And Hans Blix

It finally feels like spring outside.  The sun is out.  I’ts fifty-some degrees.  The windows are flung wide.

Despite the rampant pessimism — or simple pain — of my previous posts, I’m in fairly high spirits, perhaps thanks to a weekend of Vicodin-fueled rest.  I’ve spent most of my time in bed watching DVDs as the swelling and ache in my mouth has slowly diminished.  I took some heat for going to ‘Daraedevil,’ and I’m afraid that this weekend’s choices may continue to offend: ‘I-Spy,’ ‘XXX,’ ‘Signs’ and ‘The Good Girl.’  None of which have been stellar, though ‘Signs’ was both fun and original, and owen Wilson had me laughing out loud more than once.

We had another ‘War Contingency Rehearsal’ Friday at work — a twelve hour day of Vicodin, Trimoxicillin, Ibuprofin and no solid food.  I become more anxious as my role becomes clearer.  Basically, every time John Norris or Gideon Yago reads an email or refers to poll data, that’s my doing (and that of my team).  Perhaps last week’s finest accomplishment, save for finally getting my implant procedure started, was MTVNews.com’s Hans Blix Feature (see “Hans Blix: Caught Between Iraq & A Hard Place”).  Norris snagged an interview and came back to the studio amped about it, so I suggested we post the entire Q&A online.  We did.  It’s very ‘Hans Blix: Unplugged,’ which is to say, he’s candid and casual as interviewees often are with us.  And it makes for a great read.  But no one in the media picked it up.  So I sent an email to The Drudge Report on Friday afternoon, and they ran it as their top headline into Saturday, spiking that feature’s traffic by a factor of about 100.

So, now, I’m heading into the week that may be THE week.  I hope it won’t come to war, but with 250,000 troops massed on the border of Iraq, it’s difficult to imagine us just turning around and coming home.  Hope it turns out ok.  This new millennium, that is. I keep wondering to myself, since it seems like this is such an unpopular offensive, is this what it felt like to be a German citizen back when Hitler invaded Poland? All this aggression going on in the name of one’s nation?