Tendentious

Already it's another busy weekend coming up. Thursday night I have to drive out to Lancaster, PA after work and help Bob set up at Cold Wars, then work *for real* in the store Saturday, then I have to go out Sunday and help him break down. But it's absolutely necessary--the historical shows are the biggest moneymakers we have. I had wanted to fit in both Gods and Generals and Tears of the Sun this weekend, but it seems unlikely.

Just a tired, down day today. I received the expected email from my friend, rubbing in the guilt for last weekend when I didn't go to a party I'd been invited to. I had a legitimate excuse, being crushed up against a deadline for the magazine, but of course I could have scheduled things differently if I'd really wanted to. Mainly what it is is that I just have no patience for larger social events right now.

"The death agony was terrible. He literally choked to death as we watched. At what seemed like the very last moment he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry and full of fear of death . . . Then he suddenly lifted his left hand. The gesture was incomprehensible and full of menace . . . The next moment, after a final effort, the spirit wrenched itself free of the flesh."
--Stalin's death, fifty years ago today, as described by his daughter