Weird morning

I got an email from my dad about John, the guy who lived to the right of my parents. He died this morning. He lived in that house his entire life. I remember his mother, who was was in her late 70s when we moved in. She was the oldest person I had ever spoken to when I was 5 or 6. She had survived the 1906 earthquake and used to tell stories about it, of which I remember nothing. As far as I know, John never had a serious job in his life. He followed his hobbies for years, editing a chess magazine, getting master's degrees, doing who knows what else. He also took terrible care of himself and had all kinds of health problems that he didn't pay much attention to. I think my mother was his only friend in the real world. He had a brother in the area, but they weren't close. I think his brother wanted him to grow up and John wanted to live his life his way. My mom likes having people to take care of, so she drove him around to the grocery store and to the doctor. He had been having breathing problems recently and my mother convinced him to see the doctor. The doctor prescribed some medication, but it didn't seem to help. Last night he called my mother and said that he was having trouble moving one side of his body. My parents called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital last night. I guess my parents were listed as the people to call, and the hospital called to say that he had a heart attack sometime early this morning. I don't know what's going to happen to the house and all his stuff. I don't know what's going to happen to him or if there will be a funeral or if I'd go if there was. I didn't really know him, yet I feel he deserves some acknowledgment.

random things I like

Here are my two new discoveries of the day. One is the book I'm reading, A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit. It's a book-long meditation on all the meanings of being lost. She eloquently connects the blue of Rayleigh Scattering with the blue of desire.

I'm also fond of this: From Da Space