Convoluted Crackpottery (13/5/08)
Well then. It's less than a week before I set off to Fifth Hun, where I shall summarily put these musings up online, and then backdate them so that it appears to the unknowing eye that I have, indeed, somehow been blogging while everybody else that I know online believes that I've taken an heretofore unthinkable absence; but, somehow, the Internet doesn't seem quite so necessary to one's existence after the first four or five days of lacking it. While I do deplore my inability to communicate with people halfway 'round the globe, it's certainly no mean compensation that I now get to listen to the Coconut's voice instead of MSNing. Granted I only hear it over the span of 48 hours a week, but still it's something.
As far as meeting people goes, though... I've still no idea where to meet Chronicles. Anywhere near a bookshop isn't the best of ideas, since knowing us we'll just go on an I-want spree and get completely derailed from catching up on the past 6 or 7 years of each other's life; my heavens above, I still can't believe it's been nearly a decade since we went to class together. Loch Yuck is such a hazy speck in my memory that I don't remember much more about it other than a few odd details, like tossing the Pig's ruler out a window or sticking a compass in somebody's thigh in a fit of temper. I don't even remember their name now... Like I said, odd details. Herr Robson has claimed, and has even got proof, that he remembers things I did back then that I've completely forgotten. Probably proves something about my memory.
Then again I've noticed lately that I'm starting to lose my vocabulary... maybe I'm just not as avid a reader as I used to be, maybe I'm losing my grip on my English while getting to learn more about the nitty-gritty of the technical side of the world; perhaps it's just evidence that one simply cannot be a walking dictionary forever. It only really came to my attention the other day, when somebody asked me for an instant definition and I was unable to provide it. Yes, people are wont to do that. And yes, I used to be able to provide such things, which is why people are wont to ask for definitions from me. It was made even clearer in the exchange of SMSes between myself and Chronicles; he attributed his style of SMSing, which sounds more like a sort of linguistic dance than a sentence, to his recent reading of Austen; and then I realised that the nearest thing I get to novels these days is Freakonomics or the occasional chapter from I'm With Stupid (which is really very much more intelligent than its title would lead you to imagine). The thickest book I've read recently? A compilation whose blurb states that it contains over 4000 limericks, puns, jokes, and one-liners. Yes, indeed, my reading life has gone down the tubes.
And I can't really point to anything significant in it. It just seems like over the past few years, something drained out of my life or... I dunno. Of all the things I've ever lost, I think I'll miss my mind the most. It's a quirky little rhyme that I think might apply very well in this case; losing my vocabulary, a few years ago, would've seemed like losing quite a chunk of my own self. Now it doesn't seem quite so significant any more except when I think about it. The same goes for my teeth; last night I looked in the mirror and I realised that 4 years' worth of not wearing the retainers has let them stray very far from what might be considered ideal. Certainly my teeth were never ideal, but now... I fear I can foresee another 4 years' worth of wearing retainers in a bid to not need orthodontistry again. My parents would, of course, disapprove of my current teeth. Which only lends weight to the next-4-years'-worth-of-retainers theory. I guess change is a part of life; there's an idea that I read about somewhere that change always involves losing something to gain something else. Unfortunately I don't seem to have gotten anything particularly interesting in exchange for these...
At any rate I now have to get my new passport applied for tomorrow, and then a visa to apply for on the day after; I hope the visa doesn't take too long to process. Such things, if I remember right, tend to take a few days; with less than a week to go, I certainly haven't got very many of those to lose. Besides, I'd much rather not have to rush through anything. My mother has also a long list of items for me to pack, while I still need to ensure that my check-in luggage weighs no more than 15kg and the hand-carried weighs no more than 5. I have no idea how much the lappie weighs, but certainly it'll be a good bit of that 5. I think I might want to get some duct tape on the faulty zipper of my Benetton carry-bag (I've no idea what you call it) and put 5kg's worth of stuff in there: electronics, mostly. I'm pretty sure my clothes, even with the groceries Mom wants (freeze-dried curry ingredients?! thank heavens she doesn't want durians), shouldn't overload that. There's a scale around anyway to make sure.
Oh, and I got myself some new glasses, since the old ones are about two years old and the lenses have turned ever-so-slightly yellow. The shop attendant said most lenses do that after a year or so of exposure to UV rays, which (I suppose) makes some sort of urban-legend sense; though my main reason for changing was that I'd gotten annoyed with the frame, which is entirely made out of thin metal and is as a result highly flexible. And so it no longer sits tightly on my head, but falls off whenever given the slightest of excuses--such as, perhaps, a violent sneeze or bowing the head for grace or even looking down at a bowl of food. I'm enjoying the feeling of these new glasses sitting and clutching my temples. However, as of typing, nobody has even noticed that they are new. Perhaps the colour scheme I chose was much too similar to the previous pair.
I'm starting to watch Heroes. It's quite engrossing. And very realistic, unlike a lot of other superpower films or series, where I always get irritated and think I could use those powers better... well, in Heroes, I don't need to complain about that. Yet. I'm only 6 episodes in after all.
As far as meeting people goes, though... I've still no idea where to meet Chronicles. Anywhere near a bookshop isn't the best of ideas, since knowing us we'll just go on an I-want spree and get completely derailed from catching up on the past 6 or 7 years of each other's life; my heavens above, I still can't believe it's been nearly a decade since we went to class together. Loch Yuck is such a hazy speck in my memory that I don't remember much more about it other than a few odd details, like tossing the Pig's ruler out a window or sticking a compass in somebody's thigh in a fit of temper. I don't even remember their name now... Like I said, odd details. Herr Robson has claimed, and has even got proof, that he remembers things I did back then that I've completely forgotten. Probably proves something about my memory.
Then again I've noticed lately that I'm starting to lose my vocabulary... maybe I'm just not as avid a reader as I used to be, maybe I'm losing my grip on my English while getting to learn more about the nitty-gritty of the technical side of the world; perhaps it's just evidence that one simply cannot be a walking dictionary forever. It only really came to my attention the other day, when somebody asked me for an instant definition and I was unable to provide it. Yes, people are wont to do that. And yes, I used to be able to provide such things, which is why people are wont to ask for definitions from me. It was made even clearer in the exchange of SMSes between myself and Chronicles; he attributed his style of SMSing, which sounds more like a sort of linguistic dance than a sentence, to his recent reading of Austen; and then I realised that the nearest thing I get to novels these days is Freakonomics or the occasional chapter from I'm With Stupid (which is really very much more intelligent than its title would lead you to imagine). The thickest book I've read recently? A compilation whose blurb states that it contains over 4000 limericks, puns, jokes, and one-liners. Yes, indeed, my reading life has gone down the tubes.
And I can't really point to anything significant in it. It just seems like over the past few years, something drained out of my life or... I dunno. Of all the things I've ever lost, I think I'll miss my mind the most. It's a quirky little rhyme that I think might apply very well in this case; losing my vocabulary, a few years ago, would've seemed like losing quite a chunk of my own self. Now it doesn't seem quite so significant any more except when I think about it. The same goes for my teeth; last night I looked in the mirror and I realised that 4 years' worth of not wearing the retainers has let them stray very far from what might be considered ideal. Certainly my teeth were never ideal, but now... I fear I can foresee another 4 years' worth of wearing retainers in a bid to not need orthodontistry again. My parents would, of course, disapprove of my current teeth. Which only lends weight to the next-4-years'-worth-of-retainers theory. I guess change is a part of life; there's an idea that I read about somewhere that change always involves losing something to gain something else. Unfortunately I don't seem to have gotten anything particularly interesting in exchange for these...
At any rate I now have to get my new passport applied for tomorrow, and then a visa to apply for on the day after; I hope the visa doesn't take too long to process. Such things, if I remember right, tend to take a few days; with less than a week to go, I certainly haven't got very many of those to lose. Besides, I'd much rather not have to rush through anything. My mother has also a long list of items for me to pack, while I still need to ensure that my check-in luggage weighs no more than 15kg and the hand-carried weighs no more than 5. I have no idea how much the lappie weighs, but certainly it'll be a good bit of that 5. I think I might want to get some duct tape on the faulty zipper of my Benetton carry-bag (I've no idea what you call it) and put 5kg's worth of stuff in there: electronics, mostly. I'm pretty sure my clothes, even with the groceries Mom wants (freeze-dried curry ingredients?! thank heavens she doesn't want durians), shouldn't overload that. There's a scale around anyway to make sure.
Oh, and I got myself some new glasses, since the old ones are about two years old and the lenses have turned ever-so-slightly yellow. The shop attendant said most lenses do that after a year or so of exposure to UV rays, which (I suppose) makes some sort of urban-legend sense; though my main reason for changing was that I'd gotten annoyed with the frame, which is entirely made out of thin metal and is as a result highly flexible. And so it no longer sits tightly on my head, but falls off whenever given the slightest of excuses--such as, perhaps, a violent sneeze or bowing the head for grace or even looking down at a bowl of food. I'm enjoying the feeling of these new glasses sitting and clutching my temples. However, as of typing, nobody has even noticed that they are new. Perhaps the colour scheme I chose was much too similar to the previous pair.
I'm starting to watch Heroes. It's quite engrossing. And very realistic, unlike a lot of other superpower films or series, where I always get irritated and think I could use those powers better... well, in Heroes, I don't need to complain about that. Yet. I'm only 6 episodes in after all.
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