Hugs, Dreams and a Nice Cup of Tea

Some mornings you wake up and feel that this is going to be a tiresome day. Today was such a day. I tried to do the best I could, and it went smoothly enough. But I needed a hug badly and fortunately the best hugger in town came to my rescue. It seems to me that there is always something or someone that will cheer you up, no matter where you are, or how bad things are.

Things are really heating up at work. Everything is changing, and next year everything will be different. It's time to seize the opportunity and take action. The question is of course what course of action to take. Get in deeper, or quit? It seems to me that there is always something or someone that will make things more complicated, no matter where you are, or how complicated things are.

If I may be permitted to dream a little (and I may, since I am the boss of this blog), I think that what I really would like to do more than anything else right now is move to Australia, and try to find work there. Maybe in Melbourne, or perhaps way out somewhere, on some camel farm or something.

Well, that'll have to wait, first I want my cup of tea.

Children, Violence and Award Winning Authors

I have been on a short trip, visiting one of my dearest friends. I had no phone, no computer, no work, no disturbances whatsoever. Well, her phone rang occasionally, but since we were at her place, that was only to be expected. We had the best time, walking in the woods and talking about everything, from sour milk to particle accelerators. Being with her is so soothing and comforting, I don't know what I would do without her. We spoke of children also, and whether I might consider having children with her. I was a bit surprised, but I answered truthfully, and shyly, yes.

Speaking of children, a recent study by the UN and WHO (here) shows that 80% of all children are being beaten by their parents. In 106 countries teachers are allowed to beat their students. In a separate study in Finland, one out of three thought it was OK to beat your child, and of those, 14% thought that it was OK to kick them, 54% to whip them and 13% thought it OK to hit the child with your fists. What's their problem? How can you justify beating up someone so much smaller than yourself? Whatever happened to that old saying, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"? There are plenty of grown-ups who are in the need of a good spanking, but very few would find that acceptable. I wonder why that is. I suppose it's because, behind all talk about setting boundaries and teaching discipline, the fact remains that most likely you beat your children because you can, because they can't strike back at you.

On a brighter, more literary note, Kiran Desai last week won the Man Booker Prize for her latest novel The Inheritance of Loss. Unfortunately I haven't read it yet, but her previous novel, also her first, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, I have read, and it's absolutely wonderful. I trust her second book is no less so and I hope she will have as prosperous a career as her mother Anita Desai, also a great writer and a favourite of mine.

I tell you more about The Inheritance of Loss when I've read it, now I'm of to bed with another book. Sweet dreams.

Married Women and Lonely Men in Autumn

That's me, the man in the title. Who the married woman is I'm not at liberty to disclose.

Autumn has, somewhat belatedly, while at the same time rather suddenly, arrived. I took the bus to work this morning, and at one point almost all passengers turned their heads to look out through the windows for a beautiful view of the city, in the glow of the early morning sun.

At work things have improved a bit, but there is not much joy in going there. I wish it was different, I wish I had the guts to quit and take a trip instead. I'm always more alive traveling than at home. I spent a few weeks in Japan in April and I was probably more at ease there than at any one time I've spent in my apartment since. That's most likely a bad thing, but still, that's how things are.

Soon the winner of the Nobel prize in literature will be announced. On Thursday. I wonder who it might me. Why not Cormac McCarthy?

In case you are wondering, I took the photograph of Mt Fuji.

Death and General Relativity

What is one supposed to say when a friend's father dies? I don't know, so I say as little as possible. I keep in the background, and offer my silent support.

This has been one of many difficult things that has happened the last week. By far the worst for her, but I have had other problems of my own. Mostly at work. I'm so fed up with all the stuff going on, or rather, not going on. I spend most of my time trying to fix machines that have broken down, or trying to get a little professionalism in to proceedings. It's like I'm fighting an uphill battle, and now I feel that enough is enough. I'm always to soft, all to seldom speaking my mind. Well, no more mister Nice Guy! The glows are off!

In the world of physics, scientist are still, after a good many decades, trying to find out how to reconcile the theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics. String theory for example has had it pretty rough lately. I will not give advise on that, but there is a similar problem in every day life, how to reconcile what you want, and need, to do with what you actually do.

Nurse Software and Sour Drinks

In The Economist latest Technology Quarterly there was an article about intelligent computer systems that screen your surroundings and control your information needs. Say for example that an incoming phone call is not relevant to you at the minute it arrives, then your phone either puts it on hold, or connect it to voice-mail. The same thing might happen when someone sends you an e-mail. If you're flying, driving a car or are a soldier in combat, under fire, the same thing will happen. Your equipment decides what information is necessary and/or suitable for you and disregards the rest. The time of day, the weather, the position of your body, the amount of sweat, the beating of your heart, these are some of the factors that are used to decide what to do with the call, the e-mail, the information.

I find it mesmerizing. How long will it be until we humans don't have to do anything at all, just sit in our gardens reading a good book while our machines do all the dirty work?

I have developed my own system. I turn of the phone, or my e-mail program, when I don't want to be disturbed. But sometimes it would be nice to have an intelligent system even in your private life. If you can't turn of the phone because some hot date is gonna call, but you don't want your boss to call and say that you must work, then it would be wonderful if the phone told your boss that you were unavailable, while putting the call from the date through the second it arrived. Oh, I know what "Q" would say about that: "It has not been perfected after years of hard work entirely for that purpose 007."

Tonight's drink was Passion Punch. It was OK. It looked great but it was too sour for my taste. C had similar objections.

Dark Evenings, Dark Chocolate, Dark Matter

Tonight I've been on a release party for a book I contributed to. Maybe party is too strong a word, but there were some people gathered for the occasion. My contribution was proof reading, of which, alas, a lot was needed.

Afterwards the sun had set and it was dark outside. Soon it will be dark when I go to work and dark when I leave work. It's not the most cheerful of seasons, but at least it's cozy to snuggle up in bed with a good book (which disqualifies the book mentioned above), or maybe have a candlelit dinner. Candles are much more efficient for setting the mood when it's dark outside after all.

While in bed, or after dinner, you could do a lot worse than eat some dark chocolate. It should be about 55 - 60% cocoa, although it all depends on the quality of the beans, and the mixture of other ingredients. If ice cream is my summertime drug, chocolate is my autumn and winter's.

While we are on the subject of dark, apparently the existence of dark matter is finally proved positive. This is something that really intrigues me. Everywhere there is matter, which is perfectly visible to the eye. In fact, everything you do see is matter. But then there is dark matter, which you can't see, but which also is everywhere, even more abundant than regular matter. Since you can't see it, it has only been a theory, to be found in mathematics and physics. But maybe scientists have at last "seen" it, or the effect it has on it's surroundings. It's like the colour black. You can't see black, since no light is reflected from it to your eye. But you see everything around it, and so you see black as well, as the defined nothingness in between all the other colours.

And now I think I'll make myself a cup of black tea. See you soon!

Man Not Overboard

Robert Hudson woke up one morning in the hospital room on board, slightly dizzy from a hangover. He was below deck, and he found himself alone. He got out and made his way through the ship. He was all alone and when he came up on deck, after two hours battling rising water and panic, he understood why. The ship was sinking, and everybody had escaped in the lifeboats. So Robert jump overboard, and was eventually rescued by the tanker Robert E. Hopkins.

That happened 50 years ago, and the ship he was on was Andrea Doria, after it had collided with Stockholm. I don't know why, but somehow I have, ever since I first read about the incident, accident, been fascinated by it, so imagine my excitement when one day I came across a newspaper article from 1956 which told the story of Robert Hudson's unfortunate adventures.

I wonder what he felt, and what he thought, during those few hours. Can you imagine that? Waking up after a good night's sleep, and finding yourself alone on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean. That's the kind of story that would be ridiculed as being far to absurd, if ever it would be made into a film.

But for Robert Hudson it was real. Poor bastard.

Out of the Woods

Since last I posted here I have been out in the countryside, where, among other things, I have been swimming in a rather cold lake. There has been no phones and no disturbances. It was ever so nice, even if it was only for three days. I wish I had a place such as that on my own, so I didn't have to be dependent on friends and relatives. You see, the life of Thoreau, by Walden Pond, has always had a strong appeal to me. It still has, but now I'm beginning to view things a little different. He says in Walden that "Above all, as I have implied, the man who goes alone can start to-day; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off." It might very well be true, and I have lived my life feeling the same way, but now I feel that maybe the joy of company does compensate for the longer wait.

At the same time, the Pope has made some clumsy remarks about Islam and it's violent past. As a response Al-Qaida in Iraq has threatened to wage Holy War, and to kill all infidels (here). Now, if that doesn't prove the Pope wrong, than nothing will. When will they get off? There seems to be no end to stupidity, vanity and insanity in the world. It's like it's all a big game, and the less responsibility you take, the greater is the chance that you might win, or rather, be considered a winner. If by no one else, that at least by yourself. I wonder what motivated the officers who took power in Thailand. It would be a sad state of affairs if they turned out to be more responsible than the flashy premiership of Thaksin Shinawatra has been. (read more here).

Love and Longing

Someone dear said to me today "If I didn't know you I would fall in love with you." Now, I leave it to you to figure that one out.

This evening I shared a Cosmopolitan with someone I used to be very close with. She has probably looked deeper into my soul than anyone else, and understood more of it than anyone else. It's been some years since we saw each other regularly, now I just miss her regularly. I hope that this can be the beginning of something new, more substantial.

It's funny what it is that you actually miss after you loose someone. It might not even be what you appreciated most when you where with them. And also, what you miss might be different things at different times. You might miss one thing after three months, and a whole different thing after three years. I was at one time seeing a girl who had a son. It was him, the son, I missed the most afterwards, for some time. Probably because he even call me dad at one time. Now what I miss the most is the e-mails she and I sent each other in the beginning.

But today has not been a day of the past, today has in many ways been a day of the future. It has been a good day. I've been successful, in business and socially. After a lousy week I needed a break. I better enjoy it as much as possible, who knows when I get another chance?

Being Self-conscious

The word blog is very hot nowadays, and it is sometimes seen as something new, this business about writing personal stuff about yourself for strangers to read. And some people get very upset when blogging is mentioned, and claim to be dead tired of people blogging. What's the deal? they are asking. Who cares about some stupid blogger's life? Well, to the second question the answer is: Surprisingly many. But another, better question, might be whether blogging is actually all that new. For one thing, as long as there have been newspapers, there have been columnists who have been writing about themselves for the benefit of the common man. Essays have also been written since the dawn of the printing press, and probably before that. What is Montaigne if not a 16th century blogger? So I don't think there is anything novel about writing a blog. What is new is that so many are doing it. Any that is probably why some are so upset. Either the "upsets" are writers, and feel that the bloggers are trespassing on their domain, or they are not writers, but hostile to blogging just because it is so popular. But, although it is perfectly all right to criticize one blog in particular, such as this one, it becomes another matter when you criticize blogging, or bloggers, per se. That is neither meaningful nor fair. It's pointless. There cannot possible be anything wrong with people writing, which, basically, is all blogging is about.

And of course, blogs don't have to be someone writing about his/her own miserable life, or his/her thoughts about the environment or George W. Bush. It can be very serious and important, or it can be something like Boing Boing, which, apparently, is the most popular blog out there. There you can, among other things, find useful tips on how to knit a Princess Leia wig (here) or how to remove plastered logos from your mobile phone (here).

But you don't have to cross the bridge to find water, here's a tip for free! If your favourite tea or coffee mug is getting dark inside, due to fallout from the hot liquid, you might try scrubbing it with salt. That removes the stains, but doesn't damage the mug itself.