Artist & Author: Brian Williams

My younger sister is visiting. Not wanting to wake her with my early-morning kitchen antics, I put the sprouted rye berries in the pot with the 10-hour home-cooked all organic beef broth and did NOT set the timer, despite the fact that I forget everything except my bladder if I do not set a timer for it these days. “I won’t forget this time,” I said to myself. I sat down at the computer and forgot immediately. Soon enough, the smoke alarm went off. It is a bit louder than the kitchen timer, to say the least, and now the house is full of smoke. The worst part is that I ruined the most delightful broth on the planet! Oh! Such love went into that broth—

Will I be doomed to setting timers for everything for the rest of my life? I drew a card from my “new” Brian Williams PoMo Tarot Deck for my forgetfulness. Three of Guns.

From the book:

MEANING:
Threat, scare, alarm, disquiet. To catch a wolf by the ears, an eel by the tail. To suffer indignities, to eat crow, avaler des coulevres, to swallow adders. Ir por lana y volver trasquilado, to go for wool and return shorn, spare the rod spoil the child. Qui amie bien châtie bien, who loves well chastises well.

REVERSED:
Conditioned aversion; once burned, twice shy; and repression, forgetting all about that hot stove. Dare in guardia la lattuga ai paperi, to trust the lettuce to the geese, raccomandare il lardo alla gatta, the lard to the cat.

The deck tells me: “It is better to wake your sister than to burn the house down out of politeness.” There is nothing wrong with setting timers for everything the rest of my life— as long as I remember to set the timer.

I love Brian Williams, may he rest in peace.