Huzzah, we have sun in the sky for the first time in many many days. On Sunday I got a ‘happy birthday’ phone call from my fiancée’s sister. She has been in Tanzania for the last three weeks, and managed to mention she was kicking back on the beach, and hasn’t seen a drop of rain since she touched down. Meanwhile back here it was so windy that I couldn’t open the bathroom window without causing all doors in the house to slam repeatedly, and so rainy that the windows became opaque. Now it’s sunny I’d better make the most of it, so come on; who wants to play out? Let’s go and run around in the park, build a den near the allotments, buy water balloons for a penny each and throw them at unsuspecting passersby.
It is Jules Verne’s birthday today, and google have celebrated with another cool logo. It’s interactive and you can steer Captain Nemo’s Nautilus some 20,000 leagues under the sea (give or take a league or two). Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is one of my recent charity shop purchases, and is currently propping up the big pile of unreads by the side of my bed. It shouldn’t take too long to read; I can definitely get through it before Saturday, in time to start rereading On the Origin of Species to celebrate Charles Darwin’s birthday. (Google did a pretty cool interactive pacman logo [here].) It shows how much attention I’ve been paying; it’s actually Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth that I’ve got.
“You wouldn’t steal a car.” “You wouldn’t steal a handbag.” “You wouldn’t steal a television.” “You wouldn’t steal a movie.” “Piracy is a crime.” Thanks for that, but why are you telling me? I received this box set of Sherlock Holmes DVDs as a birthday present in good faith. I do not believe my mum is in the business of DVD piracy, and I doubt she would have the equipment to manufacture such convincing packaging. Admittedly the cellar in my parent’s house is pretty imposing, and there are one or two dark corners I’d prefer not to explore. But the chance of there being industrial printing hardware tucked away is about as likely as my sister joining the Taliban and disappearing into the mountains of Afghanistan.
Seems to be a day for random unconnected paragraph-length thoughts. I feel like I have forgotten how to write about one subject for any prolonged period of time. Usually, on a good day, the theme for a day’s blog will come to me while I am brushing my teeth or having a shower, and then it’s just a case of tapping away at the keyboard for a few minutes. For the last week, no such thoughts have occurred to me, and the blog has been a difficult chore as opposed to the intellectually stimulating writing practice that it is supposed to be. But still I continue to force myself upon an unwilling (and purely hypothetical) audience. Perhaps I’ve become shy through knowledge that some people actually read this.
I suspect a bit of physical exercise might help the brain become more active. I don’t know if it’s true that ‘getting the blood flowing’ makes any scientific sense, of it exercise helps get the brain firing at full capacity. Anecdotally you could use Stephen Hawking as evidence that it isn’t true; one of the smartest men alive, and currently almost entirely inactive physically save for a twitch in his cheek used to control his computer. Whereas I am merely lazy – yes, that is it; I am lazy. Soon I’ll be fat and bald too! The sort of exercise that a sunny day like this demands is a walk to the pub and a mid afternoon pint with friends. That would be an afternoon well spent; but I do have to be at Blank Space soonish to get some work done and take part in the first monthly Creative Writing In_tuition workshop.
Right. I’ll be back tomorrow.
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