Fast and Bulbous

I am currently neck deep in my first of two theses this year, but the finish line is in sight it seems for number one, after an overly long extension gained after being stranded in Portugal and then going on a field trip to Syria. As such, I have very little time for this blogging malarkey, but due to blog pressure from my girlfriend, I thought I would treat you to a slice of life I found on my computer during a recent procrastination marathon. It is basically a diary I started but never completed last year when my house mate contracted the dreaded swine flu and we were all quarantined. I thought it would be an interesting period to document, but, based on the fact I only made two entries, I assume it wasn't. Anyway, here it it...

Day One – 22^nd June 2009

I haven’t been to work for almost three weeks now, it will be 4 weeks exactly by the time this is over. There is a global pandemic, a virus dubbed swine flu, and today it was confirmed that Mike, my housemate, has it. He’s had a rough weekend, struck down with a savage flu that has practically immobilised him. He was tested on Friday morning and left waiting all weekend for the results, but at lunch time today he received the call from the clinic to confirm that he did indeed have swine flu. All our names were taken and an order was put in for us to receive Tamiflu, the course of drugs that eradicate the virus. From this point on a mild, and slightly amusing, panic spread through the house, with everyone’s ear glued to their phone, warning everyone we’d been in contact this weekend that Mike had the swine flu, and we might too. It’s highly contagious, we’re told, and we should remain at home and not allow anyone round or visit anyone. I’d told work about my situation, and after various phone calls I was advised not to go back in until next Wednesday at least. I got the feeling they were suspicious about the whole situation as I had been on the phone to them several times, each time telling them conflicting opinions we had gathered from various GP’s and help lines. In reality I was just keeping them in the picture, and I still feel guilty because as of yet I have no symptoms. The aforementioned conflicting opinions caused a great deal of confusion as to what we can and can not do. We have agreed that we should stay in the house, in quarantine in essence, but Gemma and I are technically allowed to leave the house as we aren’t displaying any symptoms, but we would save this power for only when it was really needed.

We’ve broken quarantine a few times today. Steve’s dad came round to check out some scaffolding the neighbour offered to me earlier when I got talking to him having a smoke outside. I decided against mentioning the swine flu, it would only cause unnecessary panic. Also during a viewing of Gonzo this evening, Gemma had to run to the off licence for cigarettes. So we’re not being as strict as perhaps we should be, but the advice we’ve been given ranges from touching everyone you see without consequence to staying locked in your room, only emerging in an emergency. Very confusing. I haven’t left the house yet personally, and I’m unsure how long it will be until I do.

I sat awake, stoned, watching the planes, romanticising about this illusion of gifted time and all the things I could do with it.

Day Four – 25^th June 2009

Michael Jackson died today. I had a mixed reaction to the news, to be honest I wasn’t a fan of the man in his later years, he seemed to be wasting his talent and after a quick buck. However, when you visit the records he made during his peak era, Thriller, or Bad for example, you realise this man was practically a genius! Firstly, you put on a Michael Jackson single and you won’t be able to keep still, the beats and bass lines are infectious. Secondly, and for me the key to his success, is how percussive his voice is. Before every phrase there’s an “oh” or an “ah”, mixing in with the beat and just causing you to want to dance more. I suppose I should mention his dancing, because that boy could dance. Really bizarre moves as well, very original but often bizarre, for instance pulling your trousers up, bending your knees and relaxing. But he made it look effortless. I don’t know if he’ll be missed necessarily, in truth I think he’s been missed for years now, but it is sad to see such an icon decline the way he has, from being the biggest name in pop music and having a theme park in his garden, to dying a pedestrian death in hospital from heart complications.

Elsewhere, the swine flu seems to be leaving our house. Mike seems to be going through stages of getting better and suddenly having to go to bed. He’ll finish his course of drugs tomorrow and so he’ll be safe to leave the house, and has already said that he wants to just get out of the house, which is perfectly understandable. Gemma, Steve and I have spent most of the days sorting out the garden, and it’s nice to have the opportunity to do so. Yesterday we had a fire to burn all the waste from the garden, much to the annoyance of the neighbours. An old gent from three doors over just kept shouting: “Hello, do you know it’s illegal to have a bonfire?” It’s not, by the way. We just ignored him and became increasingly drunk in the day time, resulting in a group nap at half seven ready for the rest of the evening. Today we had a similar day, except this time we informed the neighbours we were having a bonfire, out of courtesy, and they were fine with it, which meant we were able to burn everything that was left in the garden, so it’s almost ready for the grass now. We wound down in the evening playing Beat It on Guitar Hero and listening to the Jackson 5 at ear splitting volume.