We've shifted house.

Again.

The good thing about this, of course, is sorting out the books. I'm taking my own sweet time over it, and I love it. There are so many different books, by so many different authors, and they each call out to me. I can't say I've read them all, but I want to - from the incredibly complex ones (like a dream interpretation book my brother left at home) to the racy, thriller sort or the cool Dollar western books.

What's interesting is that ANY good book teaches you something interesting - something you wouldn't know about before picking up that book. It could teach you something about yourself or something about the world. I remember an interesting Star Wars book which was discussing the religious philosophy of a warring alien species - it stated that the gods give us three gifts. The first is life, and is the least of their gifts; it is so that we may experience their works and their power. The second gift they give us is pain - a way for you to know that they exist, and a way for them to tell you their will and what they want of you. Pain is the teacher, the imperative, and the strength of the Gods - their method to communicate. The last gift they give us is Death - their greatest gift, and their freedom from life, and pain.

I don't particularly like life being denigrated so and death being glorified, but I agree with the general assessment of pain. Then, there's Digital Fortress by Dan Brown - it taught me never to put up anything private about blowing things up, because they can always catch you. Not exactly something that sets the gray cell synapses afire, but definitely interesting reading.

I'm reading a James Hadley Chase now - interesting opening, but waiting for it to develop. Some holiday this is turning out to be, in terms of relaxation; but I'm learning a lot, I have Ria, and there is parental bonding. :-)

Life's good.

Sights, sounds and tastes.

I woke up a few days back with the smell of her. Not 'her', the one I'm with. Not even 'her', the one I was with. But a her from the past. Strange. Not all too far back in those mists, but not someone I'd imagine would have that sort of impact. Just a strange, milky, odd smell that I never could understand. It wasn't particularly attractive to me; but it was what it was. And it was there. As I moved up and quickly got ready for class, the many other smells the hostel provides inundated me; but the memory persisted for the day. Quite strange.

I find it oddly compelling to be caught in the headlights of a vehicle. It happened to me while I was standing at the side of the road, just yesterday. A power cut cast a sudden veil of darkness over everything - and then, to my left against a wall was my shadow, bright, due to a motorcycle coming towards me. As it zoomed by, I saw my shadow move blurrily, slowly change shape and disappear. Just one of those things that made me stop and stare, at the spot where the silhouette had been.

Idiocy seems to be ruling the roost, what with people taking rules to be absolutes and lacking the common sense to use them wisely. It redefines intelligence to impose stupid limitations without reason, especially since the reasons for those limitations are valid ones. But a toe outside the line isn't dangerous - and if you're trying to protect someone, if your function is the safety of someone through such limitations, punishing them for what is not naturally a violation of those things is patently ridiculous. Power isn't meant to be used in that fashion.