journal features

standing tall and free

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Tokyo, 2008.10.14

Ken stood up by himself today, with no hand on anything else. Mari watched, surprised, as he simply stood there. She reports that he was not rocking or wobbling, just calmly standing like it was no big deal.

At the same time, I picked up some photos today. One of the rolls of film had some picks from a month ago -- it's surprising to see how much taller he is since then. In the pics from a month ago, he can barely see over the walls of the pen we keep him in. Now he's head and shoulders above it.

rand()m quote

If I had my life to live over, I'd try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax, I would limber up, I would be crazier than I've been on this trip. I know very few things I'd take seriously any more. I'd certainly be less hygenic... I would take more chances, I would take more trips, I would scale more mountains, I would swim more rivers, and I would watch more sunsets. I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it all over again, I'd have many more of them, in fact I'd try not to have anything else, just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of my day. If I had it to do all over again, I'd travel lighter, much lighter than I have. I would start barefoot earlier in the spring, and I'd stay that way later in the fall. And I would ride more merry-go-rounds, and catch more gold rings, and greet more people and pick more flowers and dance more often. If I had it to do all over again - but you see, I don't.

—Jorge Luis Borges