I finished writing that instruction manual. In this case, a report for a publisher who wants to do an edition of a translation of a major work of Spanish poetry.

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The ideal state of mind is relaxed alertness. In other words, you are alive to the world, not groggy, yet not tense or anxious either. The worst state is, by contrast, both groggy and anxiety filled, sluggish and nervous. Both the best and worst states, then, are combinations of two opposing "forces." In one case, you have the best of these two forces; in the other, the worst.

Medicating yourself through caffeine and alchohol is an attempt to gain this idea state of relaxed alertness, but tends to end up producing sluggish jittteriness instead.

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I got a new troubadour anthology. Pound and Snodgrass, and third translator whose name is escaping me. As I said to Stan Lombardo, because I am always talking, Stan I said, which was in fact his name, I want to learn enough Langue D'Oc to read it without the translations. After all, I know French and Catalan, the two closest languages to it. Stan, who is translating Dante now, said any language that said "Oc" for yes was good for him.