it's week 25 of this year! usually that means some kind of party. i'm barely even keeping track of sermon landmarks these days. the 175th sermon came & went without any notice, which was a pretty impolite thing to do considering that 175 seems like a big significant number. i'm pretty upset about it actually, & as soon as i find out which sermon it was that sermon is getting grounded... maybe i've said too much.

i'm slowly adjusting to the impairment of my finger. i can type pretty quickly now for someone who's not using or even able to bend his primary index finger. i can bend it some, but it's always underneath layers of gauze & tape. when i take the bandage off i can bend it further but it hurts more. i'm only mediocre at handwriting though. i sincerely hope that my scribbles are somewhat legible, for the sake of those who must read them... nobody's complained so far.

the stitches come off friday. after that will come some period of healing, as i once again learn how to use my finger. at least i have an excuse to take more time off work friday.

it may sound like i'm bitching, but i'm not. i'm reporting on the experience of injuring yourself like an idiot. look at it like a historical document. perhaps someday in the future this & sermons like it will be studied & lauded as literature, much like "early american literature" (which is nothing but letters, journals, & government documents... if that boring crap can be literature, these sermons are pure genius). so keep some perspective; it might seem boring & mundane to you, but in the future they'll marvel at how primitive our medical practices are.

i have gained a new (probably fleeting) appreciation of the importance of our digits & the work they do. i knew writing would be awkward, but i had no idea i would have to totally rearrange the way i start my car's ignition (the finger gets in the way & hits the dash if i try to do it overhanded). i can't do much of anything around water without ruining my bandage. i'm sure, given months to adjust, i could become pretty functional, but this is one of those problems that only last long enough to be really inconvenient.

well hopefully next week i'll be recovered enough that there's no more need to talk about my finger. good news for you, but bad news for my finger, who's now had his 15 minutes of fame & will probably sink into a world of drugs & prostitution before it tragically dies of an overdose at too too early an age.