Wide-eyed, fully aware. Every single stimulus sending my nerves into overdrive. The moment of anticipation, the pause between the leap off the cliff and the fall. One pause of terrifying glory. One of the few moments when you've genuinely woken up.

Today was dead-slow, as far as news goes. I realized that George W. Bush has completely faded away, dropped entirely under the radar, and I was impressed. This was the President that cameramen practically tripped over themselves to catch, if only for the entertainment value. The blurb-writers loved him; in four years he offered up so much imparseable pseudo-wisdom that there are now a dozen "Bushism" calenders, each with different quotes from "Dubya." Anyone know what he's up to these days? According to wikipedia, he's in Texas, writing a book about his stint as Fearless Leader of the Free World. But when was the last time he was on camera? His farewell address? Did he attend Obama's inauguration? I don't remember. Still, you've got to admire that. The man has his time in the limelight, and he's bowed out quiet. I suppose the media has plenty to say and a few more talking heads to pick up the "Absurd Quotes" quota.

I wonder what goes through his head these days. I can't help but think about the lambasting from....more or less everyone left of center, and I wonder if he still thinks he made the right decisions.

This is sloppy writing, and I know it. At this point, I'm writing to get words on the page. get my head used to the idea of thoughts going directly from brain-meat to onscreen with no in-between. I'll need that pretty soon.

In other news, the B-Radical harmonica got released today. I'll do a write-up of my experience with the B-Radical, but I'll say this; it lives up to the hype.