Back Pain

~
Realizing that he was becoming neglectful again about Little Bear's shaggy coat, Monk went to work on it this morning, and while he was bent over Bear brushing out the eskie's coat, he heard and felt something shift in his spine. He wasn't actually feeling any pain yet, but he knew that was just a formality.

After completing the brushing, Monk begins to straighten back up, and, yup, it's now official: he is hurting, a little.

Such back pain is a minor, recurrent problem. The last bout was long enough ago that Monk was beginning to think that he was over it. But nope. However, today's pain is even more minor than usual, as he just goes through the day gingerly and groaning more often (and less pleasurably).

Guralnick's Elvis: Last Train to Memphis

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"This is my story of Elvis Presley: it cannot be the story of Elvis Presley. There is no such thing; even autobiography, or perhaps autobiography most of all, represents an editing of the facts, a selection of detail, an attempt to make sense of the varioius, arbitrary developments of real life. In the end, there should be nothing shocking about human existence, because, in the end, whatever has occurred is simply human. If I have succeeded in my aim, I have given the reader the tools to create his or her own portrait of a young Elvis Presley, the opportunity to reinvent and reinterpret, within the broad context of a particular time and place, the early life of a remarkable American original."

-- Peter Guralnick, Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley

Over the weekend, Monk decided to re-read Mr. Guralnick's heralded biography of the King. Monk particularly enjoys reading it with his all-Elvis radio on in the background, putting on the volume during his reading breaks. The audio background of Elvis' song history gives the reading experience an added depth worth savoring.

Looking at the back flap of his book, Monk sees that he read it in the fall of 2001. He likes to think back to the times he has previously read a book, trying to recall the feel and sense of the time. For him, it is perhaps similar to the way others remember past loves.