Howdy All Ya'll!
Now that I can count myself among the Ashford Alumni, life seems to move at an almost surreal, agonizingly slow tempo: no deadlines to meet, no assignments to ponder, no homework getting the final few touch-ups at 11:55 at night (five hours before I must be up for work).
It is a little like my past experiences in the Navy, coming back from a deployment only to find that life does not necessarily just pick up where it left off. Certainly, I have been here (in body anyway) throughout my virtual attendance at Ashford, but it does seem as though I have been "off at school" in more than just thought. Day-to-day life, as I knew it before, seems to have lost a little luster, suffering against the comparison to a consistent stream of intellectual challenge and collegiate interplay.
It seems almost fitting that my body should feel the need to scream out for attention, only now, after supporting the last few desperate steps of my mental marathon. I offer this up as explanation for my blogospheric absence, and apologize if (for some unfathomable reason) I was missed. This grand machine I walk around in - in some respects grander than in its younger days - has presented a new hiccup to the daily routine, a new twist just to make things interesting: Parkinsonism. For those unfamiliar, Parkinson's (proper) is a thoroughly difficult condition to diagnose, sometimes taking years to nail down and only then by a contracted process of causal elimination. This has given rise to the term "Parkinsonism" to describe a grouping of symptoms which are common to those with actual Parkinson's Disease, and those who have not been formally diagnosed, but also perhaps to some who have other, wholly unrelated causes altogether.
This is where I find myself; by no means feeling the need for anyone's pity or sympathies as it is but a minor inconvenience, especially when compared to the maladies with which some must contend. All it represents for me is a minor realignment of lifestyle, a re-prioritization of sorts, nothing more. It is not a threat to my life, at least not yet, and may in fact extend it as I have accepted the fact that my motorcycling days are behind me - the most obvious indicator of my condition (whatever it is) is my right hand, which any scooter-rider will tell you, is kind of important. You can drive a car without the use of a right hand, but any disconnect or miscommunication with that same hand at a crucial moment on a motorbike can be catastrophic.
So my mode of transport around Southern California will change, but fortunately, I am not defined by "my ride." My future as a concert pianist looks pretty dim, but I never had the personal discipline to focus my efforts on a musical instrument long enough to develop any appreciable talent anyway. There are probably enough people in the world's inventory already who can write tourists' names on a grain of rice - I don't need to be added to their number. And though not a fan as yet, if I do develop a taste for them someday, my martinis will always be shaken, not stirred. My typing, while still above par (I flatter myself) is a little slower with more corrections needed, but I have never been easy enough to look at, or had the legs to be an executive secretary. Life could certainly be a whole lot worse.
That is what's new in the World of Q, which I mention only because there are those who have asked why "I fell off the face of the Earth." I tried to make it more upbeat, but my pragmatism threw the challenge flag and vetoed that idea. Still, not bad news within The Grander Scheme, and still reason to count the blessings I enjoy with you all.
Godspeed, Q
Congratulations!
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