journal features

clever sunburn

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Halifax, 2004.05.08

One more sunny day before my girlfriend is due to leave. By the end of the day, I'd managed to singe the side of my face lying on my patio with her.

We'd arranged ourselves on my little exercise mat so that each of us could rest our head on the other's shoulder. A bit clever, I thought.

Not so much. Only one side of my face wound up with any colour, and that was all red. Unlike the little book I bought on aquariums, which resisted being read as I slowly dozed in the sun.

rand()m quote

One day you will take a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way and you can do something [...] for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and get good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision. To be or to do.

—John Boyd, US Air Force