"The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul"

I've just finished reading this book, by Douglas Adams, for the second time, and I think I liked it even better this time around. The reason I like him so well is because in the midst of his ironic and sarcastic comedy, he manages to also create some deeply stirring passages. I haven't been able to decide if this is on purpose, or entirely by accident, but it happens nonetheless. He writes some of the most poetic prose I have yet read. To illustrate, I'm copying down here one of my favorite passages from the book, if nothing else, to attempt to convince those of you who haven't read it yet, that you really should. The background that you need to know: Thor has shown up in modern England and is creating havoc, like he does. (If you've read American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, I'm conjecturing that he actually used this and several other comments in this book as the basis for his main idea in A.G.) Private Detective Dirk Gently is on the case, and is so far the only one who suspects that he really is Thor, being the only one willing to assume the impossible is, in fact, the only explanation that makes sense, and that if Thor is still alive and kicking, surely the rest of the pantheon must be as well. The following paragraphs come from Dirk's mind.

"He wondered for a moment what it was like to be a whale. Physically, he thought, he was probably well placed to get some good insights, though whales were better adapted for their lives of gliding about in the vast pelagic blueness than he was for his of struggling up through the Pentonville Road traffic in a weary old Jaguar--but what he was thinking of, in fact, was the whales' songs. In the past the whales had been able to sing to each other across whole oceans, even from one ocean to another because sound travels such huge distances underwater. But now, again because of the way in which sound travels, there is no part of the ocean that is not constantly jangling with the hubbub of ships' motors, through which it is now virtually impossible for the whales to hear each other's songs or messages.

"So f**king what, is pretty much the way that people tend to view this problem, and understandably so, thought Dirk. After all, who wants to hear a bunch of fat fish, oh, all right, mammals, burping at each other?

"But for a moment Dirk had a sense of infinite loss and sadness the somewhere among the frenzy of information noise that daily rattled the lives of men he thought he might have heard a few notes that denoted the movements of gods. As he turned north into Islington and began the long haul up past the pizza restaurants and estate agents, he felt almost frantic at the idea of what their lives must now be like."

Thought I Knew You

Tomorrow never comes they say,
but hey you know I don't believe them
I close my eyes and drift away
today has gone, I'm still standing
I'm still standing
I'm still standing, oh!

Mercy!

One of my co-workers has decided to listen to the radio this morning. No one's turned on the radio since I've worked here. What does he decide to listen tothis morning? With the speaker directly above my head? The Bob and Tom Show. A bunch of old guys sitting around telling off-color jokes that they think are funny. I might cry. Pray for me!

Woolly

I finally made it to knitting night at Athena's Fibers again. Maedb, myself, and two others had previously decided to bring our spinning, because one of the girls wanted to learn. I'm glad I did, because I had a chance to ask Maedb about how to go about blocking yarn, and discovered that the way I had been told to do it is NOT the best way. So I'm looking forward to getting at that tomorrow afternoon and having usable, functioning yarn made by my own two hands. Excitement ensues. Maedb also gave me and Nadiya some of her wool roving that she'd dyed and decided she didn't need. So now I have more "toys" to play with. :D

I've been so horrifically lethargic this last winter, but I'm doing my best to get out of it, and hopefully just hanging out more with people who are also excited about doing anything will help.

I also realized tonight, coming home after going to church for the Stations of the Cross, that I really miss belonging to a church. I used to know everyone in my home parish, by sight if nothing else, and I was in the choir, and was expected to help at various church functions, etc. I really miss that these days, and am discovering that going to church just on Sundays and Holy Days isn't particularly fulfilling. I want to belong there again. I miss stopping to talk after services with people you know. I miss helping out with fundraisers. I miss the choir. So...I need to find a way to get involved and meet other people there.

If Good Times Were Dollars...

I would be a millionaire.

So it's time to stop being sad.

Almost to the Breaking Point

It gets harder every day to sit here doing essentially nothing. I deal far better with actual hardship than I do with boredom. I might snap at any minute, so stand back, because it might sting. I apologize ahead of time for any possible backlash.