Stark Raving Mad

Hello, Internet! I hope all is well in the SSA. Independence day is a little rainy, but I know that this will be a day to remember. A day that will be celebrated in history. A day which your children will revere you for having experienced.

Joe. Ah, Joe. Joe has figured out how to communicate. He morse-codes by tapping his head. I was wondering if he would ever figure that out since, like, halfway through Book 1: The Dead. They ask him what he wants (they being the doctors) and he responds that he wants to go on tour, to get out of the hospital, to share his story with every church, town, school, country, smick, smack, and smoo.

This, to me, sounds like a great idea. As I see it, Joe has four options:

1. Joe could die and finally be at peace
2. Joe could live and tour and make a difference with what little life he has left
3. Joe could live but stay in his hospital bed and do nothing, being bored and lonely out of his mind
4. Joe could go completely crazy bonkers mad tipsy-turvey insane disturbed raving looney cuckoo bananas wacko loco TIMBUKTU AND KALAMAZOO

Ahem. I would, if I were Joe, personally ask to die. But Joe might not be groovy with that, so my second choice would be to tour and make a difference.

You see, as Joe pointed out earlier in the book, he has a unique condition. He is effectually dead, yet he still has the ability to think and reason and, now, to communicate. This has never happened before, and Joe, who by now is incredibly anti-war, has some really interesting things to say.

Whoops, went over again! Oh, well. See y’all later, and happy Independence Day. I wonder if there will be cake?