I don�t know if it�s my recent abstention from caffeine, or the fact that I watched two episodes of It�s Always Sunny in Philadelphia last night, but this morning I woke up in a foul mood. Poisonous. I�m glad that the Keelhauler is out to sea, because were he here, I would undoubtedly have picked several fights with him by the time I left for work. (Late.) (Because I overslept, again.)

But, damn, this is strange. My mood is so bad that I can almost transcend it and regard it as a malady separate from emotion, like a head cold or accidental dismemberment of a limb. Perhaps this is the first sign of developing a split personality. That would be interesting. And you heard it here, first, folks, so make a note of the date!

My poisonous mood may stem from an attempt I made last night to have my iPod answer the Proust questionnaire, Magic Eight-ball style. The failure of the experiment I chalk up totally to the inability of M. Proust to forsee the day when digital music would answer all our questions, bolstering my argument against reading his Remembrance of Things Past.

Instead of focusing on my malaise, I soothed my spirit with a delightful journey through a slim volume of free verse entitled You and I, written by everyone�s favorite soul man, Leonard Nimoy. (�A Very Personal Love Story,� says the Miami Herald, according to the book�s back cover.) If you need a lift, I�d recommend this book of short, easily comprehended poems illustrated with moody black and white photographs. Here�s a good one, demonstrating the logical sensibility you might expect from everyone�s favorite Vulcan:

I am not immortal.

Whatever I put off for later
May never be.

Whoever doesn�t know now
That I love them
May never know.

He is clearly the Leonard Cohen of the science fiction poetry set, and I applaud not only his demonstrated awareness of the concept of human mortality, but his passive-aggressive stance at the end. Mr. Nimoy finds serenity in stating the obvious over and over, between moody rhetorical questions, heavily peppered with ellipses, about how his loved one will know him, and whether love will last forever. Some examples:

• Morning comes
  When night is done


• The tides flow.
  The sun rises and sets.
  The seasons come and go.


• Life comes and goes.


• It has just occurred to me that you are young

Are you feeling more serene yet? I am.

I�ll just leave you with this last poem, a work that demonstrates Mr. Nimoy�s vulnerability via his apparent weak grasp of mathematic principles:

I have been alone before
And thought I knew loneliness.
I was wrong.

There were three

You and I.
and we.

Without you there is
less than one.

Star of the day. . .Jim Halpert