i hadn't had a good hangover in a while. there's a clarity that comes from it. in the wincing light of noon wakeup fully clothed on the couch with wallet glasses camera cell phone miraculously intact on the kitchen counter life and its petty trivialities is stripped bare. i went to a wedding last night and the conversations bore on vision, commitment, and children. by 1 pm i'm upright, moving around the house, this rental the longest i've ever lived at one address. drink coffee (cold, leftover half in the stovetop espresso unit) with ricemilk. apirin. juice. water. a little felafel sarah made. there are clues that people came over last night while i was going out of my mind at the alibi for amy & dan's formal wedding ceremony although they've been legally married for some time. i go on the balcony to finish The Naked and the Dead in the sun. the recon patrol is being attacked by hornets on page 545 when i put the book down. it's a 1958 pulp printing, binding broken, brittle leaves, the crispy yellowed pages crumble when you finger the edges. i decide to stencil on the loose sheets. i shake the can, hold my breath, spray. then retreat inside while the air clears. take a whiff, still smell it, i've been exposed. flip the page, mirror the stencil, another dusting of flat black paint. inside i go. flip the page again (it is 320) and apply LIQUID PLASTIC, Varathane #90-GLOSS, i found it free, the can looks to be from the late '60s, no doubt some wicked shit from the same labs that made Agent Orange. i do the dishes to get it off my fingers, sponge out the dried red wine from the bottoms of goblets, wondering who came over last night. adria and craig, probably. i've heard it only takes one molecule of a carcinogen to cause cancer, just a whiff of polyurethane can be the first step towards an oxygen tent. it's all just playing the percentages and i write this with a sharpie, its sharp scent NONTOXIC, conforming to ASTM D-4236. sarah says i'm a fucking idiot. i am going to spray more pages and see what happens after the men are attacked by hornets.