Welcome back
Firstly, I hope that your end of year celebrations (both festive and annual) went well.
Secondly, yes, my self imposed social networking exile is over. Which means, I’ll be lost in a deluge of twitter posts and facebook messages for the next few months, trying to catch up; ironically making me further behind. So, wish me luck.
Reasons?
One of the (several) reasons for me not posting and enjoying the whole social network ‘experience’ was that the power supply unit in my PC died. Just plum gave up the ghost. It was second hand when I got it, and the guy I got it from has told me that it might have been a few years old at the time. Considering that was 3 years ago, it had lasted quite a long time running at more than 100% capacity – I never knew that it’s maximum output was 500 watts, and ended up dragging nearly 600 out of it, on a daily basis, for 2 years. Whoops – Anyway I’ve managed to get myself a shiny new 650 watt one, and it’s working beautifully.
Having had to reinstall my OS‘s (something I try to do once a year, regardless. I’ll explain at a later date why I do that so frequently), I’ve just gotten back online in the past few days. I dread to think of the amount of bandwidth I’ve used, having installed a whole bunch of games off of Steam. Oh well internet based installers have their draw backs, too.
I suppose you’re all wondering what I’ve been up to recently.
Don’t call it a comeback
The lead up to Christmas was, mostly, uneventful. Although, I did have a creative explosion; which I’ll share with you this week.
I broke for the Christmas period a day before Christmas Eve (some might call that ‘Christmas Eve Eve’). So while most of my friends were at work, I was chilling at home with very little to do.
I did visit a friend of mine more than a few times. He’d taken a tumble and broken his hip, and I thought I’d go over and keep him company when I could. He seems to be doing a lot better, recently (that being said, I didn’t manage to get to see him today. Here’s hoping you’re doing ok. ‘Although I could just text him, now… Oh wait, my phone is out of power.’ Enough of this internal monologue, get on with the post)
Christmas day came and went. Mostly, uneventfully – as it always seems to do for me – and the approach of the New Year hastened. My friend Danny put it best when he said, ‘I don’t see the point of getting too excited. It’s just the changing of a calendar. Chinese New Year, however, means something.’ So there’s that.
I remember my first act of 2011 was to use the facilities, and write a little about my feelings in my journal/idea’s book. So, that’s about it.
Literally literature
Aside from all of that, I’ve been reading a lot.
I was given a copy of Simon Pegg‘s book, ‘Nerd Do Well‘ for Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I think that all of you will, too. Assuming you have a working knowledge of any of his work thus far this century. I know what you’re thinking, “A biography!? But he’s only a young ‘un!” and You’re quite right, that’s why this one has a thematic twist. I’ll not give it away, so go read it, and you’ll find out what it is.
I also was given a book called ‘Mock the Week: The New Year’s Book‘, imagine a book full of witty ‘Things you wouldn’t expect to see/hear on a…’ and you’ve got the thrust of it.
Reading both of these two, over the course of about two days, left me with a hunger that could only be satisfied by more literature. So, I dove into my books boxes (note: plural) that have been hidden under my bed, untouched for some time and dug out a few that I’ve not read in a while.
One of which is this beauty:
Image via Wikipedia
This book is full of outdated advice to the Katana equipped gentleman of the late Meiji period, regarding day to day life. It was written by a Samurai in exile and his student during the 1700s. And contains such impressive advice as:
It is bad taste to yawn in front of people. When one has to unexpectedly yawn, if he rubs his forehead in an upward direction, the sensation will stop. If that does not work, he can lick his lips while keeping his mouth closed, or simply hide is with his hands or sleeve in such a way that no one will know what he is doing.
Not bad, eh?
Another one I’ll be reading is:
Cover via Amazon
Which is the biography of , in my opinion, the greatest Martial Artist, Swordsman, and Painter the world has ever seen. Miyamoto Mushashi. I really enjoyed this book when I first read it (‘… erm… 4 years ago!? That sounds about right.‘) 4 years ago, mostly on the journey to my friend, Leigh’s house .
Anyway, I think I’ll leave it there. Mostly because my internet connection has gone down. (‘Using too much bandwidth again, I suppose. My ISP will be on my ass for using up… HOW MUCH BANDWIDTH!?‘) I’ll let you in on the secret as to how I posted this without an active internet connection later. For now, though, go in peace, my friends.
J
