YERGH -- The Revenge of Dr. Wertham???

So, another bout with creeping crud in my eye yesterday morning...

By 10:30 yesterday morning, out of nowhere, I couldn't see out of my left eye. That weird, spongy film I'd had a bout with earlier this year erupted anew in what seemed minutes. I was on my way to Mt. Ascutney Hospital by 11 AM, right after calling the Center for Cartoon Studies (I co-teach the senior thesis workshop on Thursdays, and yesterday's was a critical session) -- for no apparent reason, the eye infection had flared up again with a vengeance, and I didn't wait to see it get worse. I flushed my eye out as best I could to make the drive, and jumped in the car and hustled to the hospital.

As of this morning, with eyedrops in place, I'm doing OK, though my eye is feeling weird. Little wonder: by midday yesterday, it had been dilated (driving home was fun between appointments), I'd had a bright yellow-orange dye placed into it, and now I'm using a suspension of antibiotics and steroids to plop into the ol' orb three times a day until this clears up again. When I got back from the first series of tests sometime around 1 PM, I called CCS again and left a message with Robyn, then headed back to the clinic for another battery of tests.

By the time I got home later in the afternoon, I looked like David Bowie -- well, I didn't. I looked like the same graying horse-faced mulish Bissette, but my eyes were Bowie-like: the left pupil dilated full-blown wide, the right pin-narrowed to compensate. Is this what the world looks like to him? How does he stand the spotlights?

I'd somehow driven home without crashing into hapless pedestrians, crawled into our bedroom and had to shut the shades, blinds and turn off all lights -- I couldn't even read or watch TV -- and lay in the dark until the dilation from the eye tests wore off by early evening.

It was a weird 'sick day' to wrestle through. I'd have much rather been teaching at CCS!

* While it's Bush vs. Democrats in Congress that's getting headlines and attention this week over the war spending, keep your eye on what's really going on: that is, President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki making deals with long-term consequences.

The White House's announced "Declaration of Principles" sure sounds like it's going to tie US military interests in Iraq firmly to anyone in the Presidency in the future --

-- they're spinning this as (ahem) "a far more durable political, economic and security relationship than is possible under the current United Nations resolution, which serves as the foundation under international law for the American-led effort in Iraq,"

but it's smelling like rank fish to many.

Make no mistake, Bush is ensuring his will be done and his shitstorm taint any and all who follow his slime-trail into the White House. How much more damage can a President do in his final year in office? We're going to see, first-hand, and I also reckon much of the damage done will remain invisible to the US public until Bush and Cheney are safely out of 'blame' reach, ensuring another four years of GOP spin targeting their political opposition as being somehow responsible.

Since it's only crows and chicadees I hear en route to pick up my newspaper at the foot of the driveway every morning now, I long for something like

Peruvian soprano extraordinaire Yma Sumac; she'll make your Friday AM sing with "Birds" --

-- and one can only dream of what Ennio Morricone could have done with her. Link compliments of CCS fellow Bak, and have freaky Friday, one and all.