Every theory that I test always falls back to this position: is there anything that contradicts the fact this body is a set of states of energy in constant flux?

All the other details fade in comparison.

For instance, I found a 4GB flash drive on my desk this evening, completely unaware of its contents until I plugged it into this notebook PC.  On the flash drive are subfolders labeled GE184, IT104, IT250, IT302, TB133 and TB143 under the main folder labeled ITT, all of them from the year 2009.

There’s also a file labeled “Lesson Plan Outline – Twenty Minute Segments – Spring 2009.xls” for IT104 – Introduction to Computer Programming.

Is it coincidence that I read an online article about professors and students this afternoon which led me to think about my teaching days at ITT and then to discover the flash drive in the pile of junk on my desk later today?

We make our own coincidences, do we not?

Ever since I got married in 1986, I kept the promise to stay physically devoted to my wife, putting aside the thoughts that once led me to pursue women.

Sure, temptations are there everyday when I see people of all shapes and sizes, their sights and smells capturing my attention like Seirênes on strange shores.

I do not take lovers anymore.  Instead, I convert my amorous feelings into short stories and poems, inspiration for dreams of life on Mars and other celestial bodies.

I’m getting older, if I’ve ever been young, yet I’m always a kid at heart.

Falling in love over and over, day after day, takes its toll on this little old kid.

To spend one second holding the hand of another on the dance floor is an eternity of feelings — happiness, joy, trust — moments I barely remember from my younger days.

Next week I will compete in one dance with my wife, then my wife and I will compete separately with Abi and Stephane in a different dance.

How do I dance with someone as beautiful and graceful as Abi without falling in love with her?

How do I feel about competing against my wife, so to speak, in the PROAM OPEN NEWCOMER SWING MALE/FEMALE divisions?

How does this affect my belief in the theory that I am alone in the universe which is here solely for my entertainment?

Whenever I feel myself attracted to another person, I revert to generalising and stretching my practical self into expounding about universal theories in order to protect myself from becoming a blathering idiot and making a fool of myself.

It’s no coincidence that the Echo and Pulse pens on my desk are not Epipens because, unlike my father, I have no deathly allergic reactions to protect myself against.

I have been a solo artist for so long that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to dance with another person as one.

What I have remembered is that the dance partner is the one toward whom I give my fullest attention, all barriers dropped temporarily, whilst we give ourselves over to the lord of the dance: