Get the Most Out of Life of Pi

To read or watch movies, that is the question. When tired at workday's end, depressed about death's certainty and my recent surgery unable to contribute purpose i.e., figure out whether to bomb Iran or worship Krshna and other gods such as Homer gives us in the Iliad I lack vision therefore I choose television. Chemistry text, bifurcated plant key esp. grasses, intro to calculus, physics unopened time slides by inexorably. That's the dilemma with no resolution, drooping rachis, striations on the lemma. Dying chooses you. You don't choose dying. So go slow as the day will allow. The cancer patient's real work is facing harsh realities and making adjustments: getting the most out of life, considering what his children will need after he's gone, preparing his wife, parents, colleagues and friends, and completing important professional tasks. Get the most out of life. That's all God asks. In Life of Pi the tiger is tiresome, short-sighted eating everything in sight today, no plan for tomorrow. The boy, however, is beautiful, reading the lifeboat manual, building a resting place on the ocean from oars and life vests, writing about his emotions, loneliness and observations. The tiger's obsession with killing keeps our boy alive with fear, an aphrodisiac, a distraction from any hint of hopelessness. And then there is the ultimate unknown, the boy's conversations with Krshna which explain the innumerable stars and their gentle glow.