September 26, 2016 scottcjones 2Comments

My father and mother arrived on Sunday to drop off the paper at the hospital. My father was obviously excited. “I found a place that sells it for $6 instead of $10,” he said with pride. The $10 Canadian price of the NY Times vexed and mystified him on a very deep level. I knew the place where he’d gotten such a discount: the dimly lit convenience mart on Davie Street that had about a hundred hookahs in the front window, all decorated with dazzling sprays of rhinestones. I told him the store had been closed the year before for selling black market handguns. “Who cares if they sell monkey…

August 21, 2014 scottcjones 35Comments

That’s right, folks—I’m still here. My still here-ness is something that apparently continues to impress a fairly large portion of the medical community here in the Vancouver, BC area. Every few days I’ll arrive for a routine follow-up exam, as one must do in the aftermath of a thing like this. I’ve probably seen 45 different doctors or so in the last four months. When I see a doctor for the first time, he’ll spend a few minutes paging through my records in a formal, doctorly fashion. Then he’ll usually say, “You know, you’re lucky to be alive.” You are lucky to be alive. I never know how I’m supposed to respond…