The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly * * * *

The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

a remarkable book about the freedom of the mind and how it is really the simple luxuries of food, a bath, smells, shaving etc that count

if i was a quadraplegic i would miss swimming, turning the pages of a book, daily walks through the seasons as the plants bud and bloom, prosper and retreat. I pray never to find out.

Prador Moon * * * / * * * *

Prador Moon by Neal Asher
cool
teched up and brutal

SPOILER AFTER CUT

53913

link to a blog entry that made me laugh [warning Not Work Safe] here

plus it's a witty and intelligent blog which i regularly read
unfortunately some of the comments left by readers are moronic the linked entry is also a good example of this

Life Support * * *

Life Support by Tess Gerritsen

fun
a howdunnit

SPOILER AFTER CUT

53435

well i've done my sponsored swim
2.5km in 1h23mins not fast but easily a personal best

53173

wow last night I went to see Esbj

52738

my temporary housemate Matthew (temporary now he's found a job for the YHA near Stratford)
Eating ice-cream in Kashgar, China (not impressed with his 15p cone) and pics from Tibet

Flagpole Sitta — Harvey Danger

I had visions, I was in them
I was looking into the mirror,
To see a little bit clearer,
The rottenness and evil in me,
Fingertips have memories
Mine can't forget the curves of your body,
And when i feel a bit naughty,
I run it up the flagpole and see,
Who salutes(But no one ever does)

I'm not sick but I'm not well,
and I'm so hot, cause I'm in hell!

Been around the world and found
That only stupid people are breeding,
The cretins cloning and feeding,
And I don't even own a TV
Put me in the hospital for nerves
And then they had to commit me,
You told them all i was crazy,
They cut off my legs now i'm an amputee,
(God damn you)

I'm not sick but I'm not well,
And I'm so hot, cause I'm in hell
I'm not sick but I'm not well
And it's a sin to live so well

I wanna publish zines,
And rage against machines,
I wanna pierce my tongue
It doesn't hurt, it feels fine,
The trivial sublime,
I'd like to turn off time
And kill my mind,
You kill my mind,

Paranoia paranoia!
Everybody's coming to get me,
Just say you never met me,
I'm runnin' underground with the moles,
(Digging holes)
Hear the voices in my head
I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring!
But if you're bored then you're boring,
The agony and the irony, they're killing me

I'm not sick but I'm not well
and I'm so hot cause I'm in hell
I'm not sick but I'm not well
and it's a sin to live this well

52389

note to self
things to do before i die

run around naked in the rain

52185

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made.
- Oscar Wilde

51717

A day of contrasting activities

Today I have been mostly:-

reading my new book on the Win32 API and playing with C++

then this afternoon

I've been planting potatoes on Andy's allotment.

The Amber Spyglass * * * *

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
really quite good

51133

well it looks like I have a housemate
later this week Matthew is moving in

50796

came across a lovely little phrase in a NYT op-ed on the Bush administration which when I googled it goes back at least to Hegel and I'd love to know how far back

"the owl of Minerva flies at dusk"

The Subtle Knife * * */ * * * *

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
better than the first but i'm still not sure what i make of it

50303

lovely picture I found here
© Russell Croman

Tai Chi

the previous quote started running through my head a few days ago and it provoked/inspired/reminded me that when i had done Tai Chi I had enjoyed it - on the whole - and that I had studied it for six years and it was time to go back. I went to one lesson in 2005 but I haven't attended regularly since before my suicide attempt in July 2004. So last night I went and was shocked to discover that I did actually remember, after some prompting, a lot more than I thought. By the end of the lesson I could make my way through a tolerable version of the 24 step which surprised me since I thought it would take weeks. It's a far from perfect version but it needs minor surgery and polishing rather than major reconstruction.