Blueprints of life and death...

I've found an old cassette tape of a horoscope reading that was done for me in early 1992. I barely remember it happening, let alone the details of those 90 minutes. It's terrifyingly accurate in places (in that general sort of way). It blocks out various eras and experiences of the last 14 years (and on into the future) with a commitment to detail that would fluster even the most hardened skeptic. In a certain respect, it seems to portray the life I should have lived, my "on track" destiny. Hearing this tape now, I am forced to wonder: Is it possible that in my rebellious nature I subconsciously derailed myself from those destinies and desires that seem so right for me? On the flipside, for the parts that have come "true," I wonder how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy these readings are? To what extent do these mythic forecasts sink into our psyches and our biological clocks and suggest pathways through the chaos?

No matter what our destiny, each biological life must come to an end. Death is the 800 pound gorilla in the room with us every moment of every day. We tend not to think about how it will arrive for us, though there may be some vague, romantic notions in the back of our minds. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is a great film for dashing those romantic notions. It is a stark portrait of the last hours of an average man's life in modern day Romania. Here is comedy at it's bleakest and blackest. It captures the horrific details of being shuttled from one hospital to another, the gigantic egos of the young, overworked doctors, the collapse of the rational mind, and the mechanical processes we have created to deal with this most enduring mystery. This film will take a few minutes to get into, but I encourage you to stay with it. Your life may depend on it!

(The fading Lazarescu gets a CAT Scan)