Accidental Empathy

I am not sure if the actual number of correlations is statistically significant; but, as we have known for some time, subjective probability is based more on salient memories, rather than hard data. In this case I seem to have built up a set of salient memories of reading rather morbid material while confined to a sickbed. There seems to be this bug going around the Bay Area; and, while, like many such bugs, it did not last more than 24 hours, that 24-hour period was pretty ghastly. As is often the case, I tried to resort to reading to either distract me or lull me to the point of sleeping through the worst. The problem was that my primary reading matter was still Robin Kelly's Thelonious Monk book; and, as fate would have it, I had advanced to the final chapter, which is a shatteringly meticulous account of the events leading up to and culminating in Monk's death. By the time I closed the book on that chapter, I was beginning to wonder if I would be following the same path! Fascinating as the writing was, it was definitely not appropriate for my physical condition! Come to think of it, arriving at the end of the book reminded me that I had made a commitment to write a review of it, which, at the time, only send another shudder through my illness-wracked body! It should clear from all the blog posts that cited this book that it had considerable impact on my thinking about many topics related to both music and work, but I would have preferred to do without this final whammy of its impact!