meta - phorical / amphetamine

Stream of good chemicals, coursing through my veins, tickling my nerves.

Monday, October 02, 2006

A blank <textarea>

This is a first, I'm actually typing into the LJ Entry field, as its coming to me. Before, I used to save an HTML draft on my PC then copy-paste it to this entry field.

I tried to do some writing earlier this month, but I wasn't happy with it, so I left it out. I've been thinking a lot about dreams, specifically mine and how to deal with them. I have a mountain in the way of my idyll, like a lost world. For some reason I sit here instead and try pass time as fast and memoryless as possible.

Why is the easiest route normally the worst for you? Why does the fatty, oily food taste the best? Why does crime never pay? Surely evolution is about taking the easy route, or the most obvious. e.g.:

You need to evolve your walking fore-arms to grasp a tool. Your survival depends on it. First, you start freeing up your fore-limbs by standing on your rear-limbs first. Your brain develops to cope with the new balancing act. Your rear-limbs change shape to accommodate the new load. Your fore-limbs start to take less load than before, so they too change by becoming lighter. Your eyes move to the front of your head so you can judge distance. You develop joints so intricate the muscles have to be stowed somewhere else. Your brain reports gridlock on the now bustling neural highways. You frustrate yourself as a baby would, struggling to communicate with its parents, as its parents do.

Surely it would have been better to use mental telekenisis to grasp a tool instead? How much easier would it have been to just grow a bigger brain?

Maybe that's the thing. Maybe the easiest choice is not the rounding choice, that is, the choice that builds and develops you. Why have we as a species resorted to the easiest choice? Why do we daily take the shortest and quickest route to the destination? Are we in for trouble by being the instant-gratification ceaselessly-demanding species? Are we surviving now or is the rest of the world trying to survive in our wake?

Maybe humans have bridged the need to survive. We're our own masters now. We may die, but as a species we're the ones climbing on the PA aimed at the stars shouting how successful we are. Is that arrogant to say and think we will overcome all? When does mother nature throw us the curve-ball? When are we to be faced with that Extinction Level Event? Maybe it's not going to be a flaming meteor or the sun burning up. Maybe it's us. Aren't we our own ELE? In our blind fumbling arrogance are we going to trip over the coffee table and smash open our heads like you would with grapes in a grape press?

I'm driving up to Joburg tomorrow. I'm dreading it. I've been so happy in my sedated nirvana here. Back in Joburg I have to face new horizons as well as send letters to the people staying behind. I have to close chapters of my life whilst signing up for the new publishing deal that I've been mulling over for the last 3 months.

One way to escape is to read. It's the same as playing on the PC for me. Mom says I should rather read so I can formulate an opinion on a book, so that you've got something to talk about. It makes you... interesting. It's the same as reading the paper, even if the hogwash you're reading is totally negative, possibly propoganda propvol and well... mediocre. At least you can formulate an opinion on the current affairs. Isn't having no opinion on current affairs just as good as having an opinion (an opinion that could be influenced by afore-mentioned subtle propoganda).

I guess that's what it's all about. If you want to mingle with the Average Joe, you've got to at least think like him, talk like him, eat the same (fatty/oily) food as him. You've gotta say: "Man, have you heard Paris Hilton's latest single? It Rocks!". [While I'm reading this, I can't help but think that I want to become a total hermit. I want to find my log-cabin in the woods (maybe somewhere Canada-ish) and learn how to fend off the Canada-ish grizzlies and fish for Canada-ish food. Then when the human race wipes itself out, I'll emerge from the woods and weep. - Now, why is that?]

This sentence is total nonsense.

Adventures in fiction

I have a book recommendation. (Fancy that! I have an opinion on something!)

I went book shopping (cos the games on my PC were getting old, and it is Mom's birthday soon). The place: Exclusive Books, Cape Gate. I found a good book for mom, then my escapist-addiction clawed at my happy nerve like a dog at your ankles wanting a scratch. So, I asked the clerk if he could recommend a book similar to "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.
"Did you know that book was a cheap rework of some old eastern story!" He proudly exclaimed, proving to me he had an opinion on the subject.
"Uh, no, I didn't. Is that so!" I retorted, trying to sound interested whilst I was recoiling inside - All I wanted was a fucking book recommendation!
"I haven't actually read it though. A friend told me."
"..."

So it seems these days you don't even need to read something to formulate an opinion on it. You can take your friend's opinion and use it as your own. Maybe spice it up with a bit of spittle and words such as cheap. All the cynicism aside, he did perform. In my grubby paws I've got the latest winner of the Whitbread Literary Awards. It's called: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. Linky. It's different. It's smart. Maybe it's different because it's smart. I dunno. I'm a third of the way through it, and enjoying it. Maybe you would too? [/Unpimp.]

Funny that, I did an Amazon search for "Life of Pi", and my book recommendation, like the book-clerk's recommendation, is sitting fourth in the search results. Go figure.

It's late and I've got a lot of driving to do tomorrow. If you don't mind, I'd like to escape to my bed. Good night.

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