No Smoking

I have always had a bizarre realationship with books. I love literature and writing. I feel a powerful compulsion to write things that can grip and hold the reader with vicelike fortitude. My problem lies in the dissapointment i feel when I cannot. I know the mood that takes me where I can write the words I want. But despite all this nonsense I do not read that much these days. Even when I was young I devoured novel after novel, all fantasy and childrens fiction but still... the past few years I have not taken in many books.

I don't know how I convinced myself that it would be a good idea to be a journalist with such a half-hearted relationship with literature but my newfound fascination with Hunter S. Thompson has kickstarted a fierce return to the world of classic books that I fell apart from for so many years. I'm running short on HST books but it's left me with a great bridge into Hemmingway, Joseph Conrad, Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Wolfe. You shouldn't write if you don't read and I have been too stubborn to learn from the greats for too long.

After all,

No Music
+
Bad TV
=
Bad Mood
+
No Pages

Morning Quickie

I've got to be at work in half an hour but I've spent the past 20 minutes messing around with the Flock browser. Seems really cool so far. It integrates a lot of the things I've had to find ad-hoc solutions for like creating bookmark groups for rapid access to news and actually gives me more info in the same amount of time from sites like Facebook that I usually only scan. I've also got my infrequently used YouTube and Flickr accounts linked up and streaming popular media at me. I frequently end up checking and rechecking the same sites when I'm bored so I've got some hope that this will make that whole process a lot more enjoyable.

Of course It doesn't quite make up for the miserable deluge of rain that I've got to slop through now in a minute but to be honest that would be a lot to ask of a webbrowser. Maybe in Web 3.0

Operation Overlord

There's something about a good game of trivia that brings together all kinds of people and makes them act like they're 13 years old again. I used to be one of those poor socially deprived misfits who loved trivia but had such pathetic social skills as to make all that knowledge not only trivial but sad and pointless. Well, no longer! I managed to squeeze my way into a trivia team for the weekly trivia event held down at a local scum coated tavern, the Rose and Thistle (purveyors of scum and questionable business practices for a generation or more).

We unfortunately lost by half a point to Two Man Army but i'll never get to know if we managed to beat Robinson Screws-Hoes. The valiant members of "Labatts Blue is Terrible" will return at some point with a more juvenile team name and finally lay claim to that holy grail of prizes... a bar tab to celebrate your addiction to things that are completely irrelevant.

Bike

I've finally joined the legion of sweaty self-rightous eco-commuters and bought a bike to get me to work and back. Yes, I spent nearly 600 because walking just doesn't cut it anymore and I really need something with wheels. I'm really quite stoked about it all manner of sarcasm aside. It's the first vehicle I've bought with my own cash and will probably become a huge money sink as I start getting all kinds of gear so I can keep it in good condition and not die while riding on it. I bought a lock right off but I still need a helmet which I'll probably go grab later this week.

Here it is!