Commentary 19: 19-2000

In real life, I finished up the previous chapter just before what was supposed to be my first date with the woman who is now my wife.  Ended my Luxembourg writing day on a high note, saved everything, and gave her a call.  The conversation:

Me: Hey, how’s it going.

Her: Not bad.  Are you ready to hang out tonight?

Me: Definitely.  Should I head over to your place or do you want to meet somewhere?

Her: I don’t want to anymore.

Me: Um, ok.  Some other time?

Her: No.  I’m just going to stay home.  Bye.

So instead of a date, I went to Jon Mack’s dart league with him, listened to a bunch of Nine Inch Nails and Guns ‘N Roses on the way, and woke up the next morning with a big Bofferding hangover.  (And as most people from Lux can attest to, you ain’t had a hangover until you’ve had a Bofferding hangover.)

That was my mindset at the start of this chapter.  The story is hilarious now in hindsight, but not so funny at the time.

Other tidbits:

• The tan van appears again, and we’re headed back to the mysterious hospital.  The point of the van is mainly just to show that his hospital/study seems to always exist, regardless of time or place.
• I had heavy duty writers block at the start of this chapter.  The Rorschach ink blot test was something I did online to kill time and decided to integrate it into the story just to have something to write about.  It led to the LBDG inkblot inspiration, so the exercise ended up working.
• Originally the narrator requested a Town Spa pizza for his meal, but I cut it under the “no names” rule and to stop sounding like a commercial.  But it is so good…
• “Oh, excellent” is a little shout out to my old roommate Bryan Davidson’s college catchphrase.  Bryan went on to do the layout for the remastered edition of the book.
• The section with the card games was also a block breaking exercise, and originally was far longer.  Again the stunt served its purpose though, as it led me to find the extra card and open the door for the return of the old man.
• Interesting that this is chapter 19.  Like a score of 19 in cribbage, I don’t have much more to say about it. 🙂
• There are 27 known musical references in this chapter.

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