Three things about Phineas beginning with "n"

1. Nerves

Phineas is often a cool customer in the two-level department store of life, but every so often...some particular event...you know? He loses it. Could happen to anyone, &c.


Post-onset timetable of nervous behavior by P.
0:00:03 -- Shakes.
0:00:08 -- Knot in stomach.
0:00:16 -- Hands become unsteady.
0:01:12 -- Tries to latch onto different train of thought; fails.
0:01:44 -- Eyes dart about.
0:02:39 -- Paces.
0:03:25 -- Scribbles on pad of paper.
0:03:52 -- Has to sit down.
0:03:58 -- Stands again.
0:04:42 -- Starts to come down.
0:05:31 -- [Optional relapse]
0:07:15 -- Normal.

2. Nattering

P. usually finds it difficult to get conversational with people he doesn't already know, but sometimes, when he's in just the right mood, he will talk your ear off. If you are patient with those who think out loud, you might enjoy it. Although he rarely comes to useful conclusions, he does manage to convey at these times a sense that he does have an interest in the world outside, vague and ill-formed though it be. In conversations of this type he tends to grimace a lot; he finds it difficult to think about things happening outside his own head.

3. Numbness

"Sometimes," he said, "I feel a certain metaphysical numbness. Oh, I don't read much into it, it's not important. It's just that there are times when I am completely unaffected by everything. [Examples.] Everyone gets that, right? Sometimes?" Phineas? Metaphysical numbness? Color it "existential" and await further developments.

© 1997-2001 Narciso Jaramillo third person | dyslexikon | nj's face