Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Don't say CHEESE

Well, I won't be having that new author photo made for a while. Tonight, I went for a walk downtown, and ended up over by the 1st Street Art Garden-thing, strolling down the sidewalk when I was launched out of my wheelchair. It's too complicated, short of drawing up schematics, to explain why this happened, but suffice it to say it's due to some really stupid sidewalk construction. I was thrown out of my chair, and unable to break my fall with my hands and arms, I broke it with my face. My nose and right side of my face is all scraped to hell, and I have knots on my forehead and cheek. But I look better than I feared. Laying there, face down, blood pooling quickly, I knew I wasn't badly hurt, nothing broken, but damn if it didn't hurt. Luckily, it's a high traffic area and several men were there to help almost instantly. One ran off for water, ice, rags, and they helped clean me up. It rapidly became some kind of surreal joke: there was a doctor, a preacher, a possibly homeless guy (who waxed eloquently on the history of the English language over the last 1200 years), and me, the cripple with the bleeding face. I'm not sore. I sting. And there's a little hunk gouged out of the bridge of my nose.

Can I say, oww?

Oww.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! This calls for a "care" package, perhaps? I'll get right on that.
*hug* Band-aids included.

Anne Haines said...

Ow ow ow! I'm glad you weren't hurt worse, but ow!

Josh Hanson said...

I say go for the photo tomorrow! Cultivate a more bad-ass persona.

Eduardo C. Corral said...

I'm with Josh. You don't want to be known as a Pretty Boy. Do you? Poets should be f'ugly. This fall is your first step toward Philip Levine looks. Congrats!

C. Dale said...

Paul, This sounds awful. I am hoping you are okay and don't need stitches or anything. Did you wash it out well? Keep an eye on it and if it starts to swell and get red and itchy, see your doctor for some antibiotics. Sorry, hard to not be a doctor.

LKD said...

I'm with Josh and Eduardo---enough with these pretty boy/girl author/poet photos. Let's see rough & tumble Paul, eh?

Meanwhile, what I like about you is that you're so damned unflappable. I swear, if some kid chucked a rock at me or I fell on my face, I wouldn't handle it with the same grace and wit and aplomb you have offered as an example.

(I'm still smiling at your oh-so-quick-and-witty comeback to the rock-tosser: "Hey, did you lose a rock?" God, I love that.)

Paul said...

Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you guys! Does my pain mean nothing to you? The future Phantom of the English department life that awaits me?

Harrumph, I say!

;)

Radish King said...

*kiss*

Paul said...

aww

Anonymous said...

wow sorry to hear about that. :(

Anonymous said...

Having to agree with what Louise said on that one...

Colleen

Jennifer said...

The potential for sexy scars notwithstanding ... hope you heal quickly. I'll say it with you: OW!

cornshake said...

feel better, paul! xoxo

Seth Abramson said...

Good Lord, Paul! I just now read this post and heard about your accident. I do hope you're feeling better(!) My thoughts are with you; wishing you the speediest of recoveries,

Seth