OYAT

Got to see Mark this weekend. (a Sunday-Monday weekend), He's doing great for one who has been slammed…still, it was good to have first seen the video clip that Chris posted. A new pic. will be up soon.
You’ll have noticed that all pictures of Mark so far are bad. I thought to circumvent that. I flattered myself thinking that I could, at least, to get a pic. that showed his eyes (they are in there, trust me). After sorting through several takes, I conclude that a good picture cannot be taken in that building; I think it’s the overhead lighting that shadows the eyes.
And Mark…he’s the same as ever, if different. Most all of the ‘different’ is expected to go away. For example, he still has double-vision and does not often make eye contact when he speaks. At first I felt he wasn’t following, but he was. He’ll occasionally tip his head back and go so wide-eyed that there’s almost white all around the pupil. He looks like a tiger ready to pounce…disconcerting on the first few occasions, but he‘s straining to pull the double images together.
When speaking, he’ll pause before replying, and then, in a measured tone, give an answer. The really heartening aspect is that the answer comes back with the same thought and choice of words, and sometimes ‘choice’ words that we all know and expect from Mark. His sardonic wit has not left him. On a few occasions when we were bantering a point back and forth, there’d be a pause on his end, and a smile would slowly work its way across his face, hang there for a few seconds, and fade. He was laughing.
When asked how he's doing, (even by staff, who will breezily inquire) he usually responds: "Fine. In the great scheme of things." But since 'the great scheme of things' includes such items as: 'the moving of the sun across the heavens', it leaves much room for improvement in Room 205. His first request: "I just want to get outta here." Can't fault him there. It's a great re-hab institution, but still...looking from the inside-out, they're much the same. The decor is by Bland Environments, Inc. (their stock must be doing well), and the food supplied by Uni-Paste Industries.
Which is the other frustration: the whole experience has boogered up his taste-buds. (also expected to normal-out in the next few weeks.) As mentioned before, his beloved Coca-Cola can sometimes taste like lipstick [moreso some times than at others] At dinner he munched some cookies while waiting for the entrée. I asked if they were any good. 'Wallboard," he said. For the main course, Uni-Paste Industries went all-out with heavily breaded Veal Parmagiana. "Wallboard," again...though I don’t think his taste-buds could be blamed this time. The 'wallboard response' might be our body's way of insulating us from institutional cooking.
That’s it off the top o’ my head. As other things surface in memory, I’ll post. Reading back over this, I do not mean to be the least bit gloomy. It was very, very good to see that the essential ‘Mark’ was still in there, unchanged, and chafing to get out. Now it’s just getting the bawd going again, and the expectations are good.
'til then...
Kel


Rico says the UniPaste gag goes way way back; the premise was (it got started when I was in college) how do you convert UniPaste, a tasteless, colorless, white paste that comes in a 55 gallon drum, into food? The trick, while eating in the college dorm, was to come up with the series of physical events (forming, coloring, heating) that turned it into whatever was on your plate. We had great fun with it, and Kelley loved the notion, having eaten some dorm food himself along the way...