Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

Perfect for Mother's Day: the Baby Be of Use series or The Secret Language of Sleep.

- - - -

T H E   L O S T   J O U R N A L S   O F
D O O G I E   H O W S E R ,   M . D .

BY PASHA MALLA AND MIKE BAKER

- - - -

September 28, 1989
"The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone."—So juvenile, so sophomoric, so goddamn true.

November 17, 1989
Sometimes the best advice is in the last place you look, and by "best advice," I mean, "my wristwatch." And by "the last place you look," I mean, "Mr. Cheswick's esophagus."

March 26, 1990
Life and death: the eternal dance. Mom: the eternal shrew.

May 17, 1990
Being a doctor it's easy to forget how the human body contains not only blood, tissue, and nerves, but also emotions like love and hope. But then you remember, and you're all, "Ew, ew."

July 9, 1990
Damn it, Wanda—how am I supposed to know how to change a tire? I'm a doctor, not a car doctor, or "mechanic."

August 30, 1990
Depeche Mode concert last night. On the way home, singing, "Put me to the test / Things in your chest," Vinnie and I stopped by the hospital, where I tried to install a Sprint Model 6942 tachyarrhythmia lead to mend his broken heart.

November 23, 1990
Thanksgiving. I give thanks for my family, my health, and my $1400/week allowance.

January 2, 1991
This New Year, I'm making only one resolution: to be the best doctor I can be. And if that means doing breast exams "the old-fashioned way," then so be it.

February 14, 1991
Valentine's Day. Wanda and I had a fight after I left our lovemaking to finish myself off in the bathroom. No one satisfies me better than I satisfy myself. Not Wanda, not Vinnie—no one.

April 15, 1991
i'm on doogs computer!!! i'm on doogs computer!!! doog is a boner!!! regards, vinnie.

July 2, 1991
They say laughter is the best medicine. But calling the residents in to laugh at Mrs. Perkins's diabetic shock—well, let's just say that a shot of insulin might have been better medicine.

September 25, 1991
"If everyone gave an eye for an eye, we'd all be blind." —Mahatma Gandhi. Whatever, Gandhi. How-ser! How-ser!

December 26, 1991
Another family Christmas. Another fucking stethoscope.

May 7, 1992
This week, I finally found myself. No, really. Vinnie and I split a sixty of Triple Sec and nine hours later I found myself sleeping in the bushes beside the Taco Bell, wearing nothing but a couple of napkins and a plastic sombrero.

November 22, 1992
Tonight Mom and Dad said I'm becoming distanced from them, that I'm driving a wedge between us by talking over their heads. I told them to fuck off—stat.

December 14, 1992
Surgery is only as complicated as you make it, and dressing Vinnie up in a blond wig while I removed an old man's prostate was tremendously complicated—but, by all accounts, remarkably successful.

January 8, 1993
Living on my own has made me realize one simple thing: unlike the eagle that soars high through the majestic skies and the bear that burrows its way through endless seasons, my toilet won't clean itself.

February 26, 1993
I've learned that love can be a lot like surgery. And breaking up with Wanda was a lot like dental surgery—dental surgery with a pair of hedge clippers and a polo mallet.

March 1, 1993
It's difficult to imagine my life without medicine. But it's even more difficult to imagine my life without these herpes sores.

 

 

OTHER McSWEENEY'S FEATURES:
- - - -


My DJ By Brian Bieber
Popular Children's Fairy Tales Reimagined Using Members of My Family By Eric Silver
How to Make Your Own Proverbs By Russell Bradbury-Carlin
Stephen Elliott's Poker Report By Stephen Elliott
Is It the Flu? By Christopher Monks

- - - -

MAIN PAGE   |   ARCHIVES

 

Memories of Amanda Davis

 


Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S PREDICTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

JOKES BY BRIAN BEATTY

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

DISPATCHES FROM MOSCOW

SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT?

DISPATCHES FROM THE ANACOSTIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

BEN GREENMAN'S FAKE CELEBRITY MUSICALS

DISPATCHES FROM A HUMANITARIAN JOURNALIST

DISPATCHES FROM IRAQ

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

PHILIP GRAHAM SPENDS A YEAR IN LISBON

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

DISPATCHES FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WARS AT THE MET

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

LAWRENCE WESCHLER'S EVERYTHING THAT RISES: A BOOK OF CONVERGENCES

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

ABOUT WHAT IS THE WHAT

ABOUT BOWL OF CHERRIES

ABOUT COMEDY BY THE NUMBERS

ABOUT JOHN BRANDON'S ARKANSAS

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY

DISPATCHES FROM ADJUNCT FACULTY AT A LARGE STATE UNIVERSITY

ADVICE FROM A PERSON WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY

DISPATCHES FROM THE NBA ENTERTAINMENT LEAGUE

JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

B.R. COHEN'S ANNALS OF SCIENCE

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DISPATCHES FROM ROY KESEY, AN AMERICAN GUY MARRIED TO
A PERUVIAN DIPLOMAT LIVING IN CHINA


STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL