#50 Long time coming

It took a while. Stop reading now if you wish, the rest here follows my maudlin mode, of which I'm sure you're all familiar.

Folks have been asking why I'm on a health kick of late. They don't get it. I have asked at least half my readership to keep this latest wheeze under wraps, but it's so banal and unremarkable that I can't see any consequence of telling my other reader about it. You of course know who you are.

I walk 3 miles every day.

That's it. Nothing remarkable or interesting about it. There is an elephant in the room named 'Why'. I could come up with a dozen reasons. Gosh, I'm starting to sound like Pirsig now. Not that it makes that big a difference. I might come up with a reason to answer the question for you but it might not be the same answer for the next person, or the next. It'll be whatever I think you'll find personally acceptable.

Bit of pain in my left leg. Probably strained it but I only notice going down stairs. So this 'personally acceptable' existance. What's it all about? If you're happy with what you've got, what would you change, because the answer isn't going to be 'nothing'. Time for some realist positivism I think. And sleep of course. Free will? It's the freedom to change.

#49 Life's lumpy, make more

Yep, that's about it in 4 words. Rather glad it's been squared away in good order. Chris was kind enough to feature my email. Who knows, I might even get actual readers now! Incidentally, if this is your first visit, you don't really need to bother with any of the previous 48 missives. They're maudlin to a degree of inexplicable extremes.

In other news, the weather is quite nice so I've been trying to make the most of it. This week's philosophy question is "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

Back to work :)

#48 Thing in the sky, thing on the earth, thing underground

Normally, I write exquisitely depressing drivel about how miserable I am and how I never do anything to fix my problems other than talk and write and write and talk and talk. Mostly though, I write. It becomes painfully apparent that I'm starved for attention when I talk. It's just such a shame lamp posts aren't educated in subjects like Russian novelists. They'd make great conversationalists.

No, instead I think I'll say something nice about how happy I am.

Feelin' fine.

Free Will is about exploring possibility. Even highly unlikely possibilities are vastly intriguing. In fact from about as far back as I can remember, I liked thinking the what if. Fancy folk might call this Astral Projection. Most folk call it wondering. I consider every possible outcome to the best my of folly. It passes the time most agreeably. To consider the past and how I might have done so differently can be liked to a watering can at the inferno. Considering the future and what I might say or do in different situations is maybe how everyone gets by. Everything is easier when you've something nice to look forward to.

The journey was far from wasted. I got to see many parts of London such as Westminster, the Tate, London Bridge, the Golden Hind (they can't have gotten all the way around the world in that, surely) and the Globe Theatre. Dear readers, you were quite correct about the sale of time and money. It buys worthwhile experience. St. Paul's is magnificent. Truly, a shared ideal can achieve greatness. I also went to the Tate where I saw a Magritte I'd never seen before. I'll have to go back and try the slide though. That looked like fun :) London is not a walking city by any means. The real trick is learning the bus routes.

For now then, I'll work on learning about digital cameras, fixing the USB 2.0 card in the old computer, losing 10lbs while the weather is still nice, breaking in my new shoes (pinstripe converse ones with insoles) and generally enjoying the summer.

#47 Rambunctuous Guffaw and the mood swing meter

Voting Day tomorrow. From what I can tell, democracy seems visibly effective directly prior to change. All the candidates are making commitments, promises and doing the hard graft to get a few votes. I have to wonder whether there will be any change in the established order of things. I'd trade the spire in Dublin for a hospital any day. Maybe we could sell off all those eVoting machines with eBay, build a few schools.

It struck me that I've never seen a goverment which satisfied its people. Someone was always critical. It's like trying to please most of the people some of the time or some of the people most of the time. The fine thing about democracy of course is that you only need to keep 51% of the people happy all the time.

Then there's the leaving cert English brouhaha. Should blow over by the end of the month. Had it been me, I don't think it would have made a difference. I recall very little, other than thinking like a robot. In one eye, out one hand. That's all there was to it. It's the grey bit in the middle that can cause problems.

I am of course grateful for the fine weather we've been having. For the first time in almost a decade, there's a prospect of tanning. Bon voyage to my only regular subscribed reader who might be reading this at a dreary desk somewhere. Hope the trip was good fun.

Well, time to get back to work. For you though:

#46 Not so merry go around

I just saw a CV online of a guy who won a medal in mathematics - he can't get a job either. Looked for my old Snes in the loft there. I found some old school notebooks. They suggest the rut is at least 11 years long and growing.

I wonder when I gave up on myself? Some time during the 90s I think?

Hmph, that'll pop up on wefeelfine.com and grand if it does. My namesakes have take top spot on google so anonymity is assured. At the very least, whining and moaning appears to be an amicable way to pass the time. Thankfully, cheering me up is remarkably easy.

#45 Summer

I've made a new chart, really MS Painty. The idea behind it is one of these chunks of pie will eventually eat the other 2. When that happens, we'll all have peace. I'm not sure an entirely homogenous culture would be so good. Still, it's worth a try. I'm hoping science will be able to fix the biggest problems.

Been watching talks over on Ted.com. Rather good that. I feel perhaps I have established a rut for a few years hench.

Knowing without doing - could I be happy? I reckon I'll just keep whining about myself for a while but deftly avoid changing in any way.

We sit and wait,
The mountain and I,
Until only the mountain remains