The Guest

In Albert Camus’ “The Guest,” a mild-mannered schoolteacher finds himself stuck with an unwanted guest and obligation: taking his guest, an Arab accused of murdering his own cousin, to prison. Through this obligation, the schoolteacher, Daru, must deal with concepts of honor, choices, and individual responsibility. Ultimately, Daru decides the choice of whether or not to deliver the man to prison is a decision best made by the prisoner and not himself. The Arab decides to turn himself in to the prison, leaving the reader with the question of why. Although Camus does not give the reader easy answers to the question of why, there are several reasons the Arab chooses the path to prison.

Beauty is in the Eye

In “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self,” Alice Walker relates a childhood accident that altered her perception of her beauty and herself. When Walker was eight, her right eye was damaged by an errant shot from a b.b. gun by her brother, resulting in a large, white cataract on her right eye. From this experience, Walker not only loses her vision in her right eye, her entire perception of herself changes from one of a cute, pretty little girl to one who is ugly and damaged. Through several episodes covering nearly thirty years, Walker explores the changes in her perception of her beauty and what beauty is.

Bowling League Awards

For several years while I lived in Calhan, Colorado, I was a member of the White Trash Wednesday Bowling League at the Calhan Bowling Center (now closed thanks to the economy). At the end of the season, we had a pot-luck awards banquet where everyone drank way too much, prizes for bowling accomplishments were awarded, and everyone who deserved one received a Very Special Certificate. This is the one I received! With the Certificate came a very special Ribbon:

On a more serious note, I did achieve several legitimate bowling accomplishments, and received the badges and pins pictured below.

Here's the funny thing about these achievements: My average was 103. I hit 75 pins over average AND my first 400 on the same night - a night I was notoriously and most uncharacteristically drunk. I mean falling-down, pass-out drunk. I had a bad day, was pissed at the world, and although I rarely drank, decided to have "just one" Long Island Ice Tea. Which became two. Then three... still not entirely sure if I had a fourth or fifth... but I do know I was completely incapable of walking the three blocks back home. Thankfully my friends got me home safely!

The post date of 5/1/2004 for this is an estimate - this definitely occurred in the late Spring of 2004, but I don't remember the exact date.  The above was written 26th December, 2011.