We had a good Christmas with family. I went for an affirmation jog around the block in the morning before we hit the road. I napped a little but my brother in law was like a napping Jabba the Hut. The guy should have his own three-letter designation, he is an airport. Today I had the second MRI. I have claustrophobia. I got through the first MRI OK, on Wednesday, though it was a bit tense. They were supposed to give me an injection of contrast agent Wednesday, but they forgot. When my neurologist sent me back for a second MRI the same day, I freaked out, and could not do the MRI. As my friend John said, "You used up all your Chi on the first one." Today I also started to freak, hyperventilate and like that, but what made it OK was I determined when they slid me into the machine. I went to my calm place and then told them to slide me in. After that it was quite relaxing. I was trying to decide whether to lie to them and tell them I saw a piece of obscene graphitti inside their precious machine. Then I had to stop myself from laughing, because you are not supposed to move or jiggle while you are in there. The MRI makes a lot of loud mechanical pulsing and buzzing noises. It sounded like house techno music. My conscious awareness of the physical symptoms is only a week old, so I can't tell yet if they are getting worse or better. I do know that every time I have a slip of the tongue or a failure of logic, I chalk it up to the Mystery Condition. But that's bogus, because it may not be the Mystery Condition so much as that I am a spaced-out, scatterbrained freak, as you all know. The plan is that on Monday they will do a Spinal Tap on me, gather some of the spinal-cerebral fluid, and run tests on it. If we are lucky, it turns out to be nothing more than a bacterial infection. I sent a bunch of you an email with the URL to this blog, and I appreciate all your kind responses. Regardless of the Mystery Condition, I have thought for a while that I need to reconnect with my friends and pals around the world. This is as good an excuse as any, and thanks to you all.