Randomness
Still very tired. I thought I was mostly better, so walked into Newport yesterday, but it left me so near-paralysed by tiredness that I had to fight hard not to burst into tears in the M&S menswear department. But tea and a spot of people-watching from the Sainsbury's cafe - positioned above the shop's entrance so you can watch all the comings and goings - perked me up enough to get me home, although I continued to be rather useless for the rest of the day.
Finding myself without the brain power to do anything useful, I have been musing on the following things:
- When did Yore get dirty? Historical movies made in the 1950s and 1960s show a past that is all shiny and clean, and, in the case of movies made in colour, full of bright, crisp colours, even in hovels. Modern films are usually full of dirt, dark lighting, dingy colours. So when did film-makers decide that the past was dirty? (Pellinor blames Monty Python.)
- It occurs to me that the same punctuation mark is used for the absent-minded or angst-ridden pause, as is used for the sort of sinister pause so beloved of plotting villains. "He shall be... dealt with." "We will seek an... alternative solution." It's quite a different thing from the pause used by someone trying to remember the next thing on their shopping list, or so overcome with angst that they can't finish their sentence. I feel that the world needs a new form of punctuation to convey this Evil Ellipsis. (I also wonder if aspiring evil overlords can buy self-help books that teach them how to employ such a pause. It wouldn't do to use it in all the wrong places. "Today we will have... [pause to stub out cigarette in menacing fashion]... baked beans. On toast."
- I dragged myself to work on Friday, but found myself lacking in brain power to do anything other than sort through boxes of old books returned from various sources. One box was labelled "Highbrow produce" from "Highbrow Farm." I could almost be tempted to draw a picture of these highbrow parsnips and carrots, earnestly discussing opera while being boxed up on a farm full of sheep who sneer at reality TV and cows who sit round reading Nietzsche all day. Except that I'm tired, so I won't.
Finding myself without the brain power to do anything useful, I have been musing on the following things:
- When did Yore get dirty? Historical movies made in the 1950s and 1960s show a past that is all shiny and clean, and, in the case of movies made in colour, full of bright, crisp colours, even in hovels. Modern films are usually full of dirt, dark lighting, dingy colours. So when did film-makers decide that the past was dirty? (Pellinor blames Monty Python.)
- It occurs to me that the same punctuation mark is used for the absent-minded or angst-ridden pause, as is used for the sort of sinister pause so beloved of plotting villains. "He shall be... dealt with." "We will seek an... alternative solution." It's quite a different thing from the pause used by someone trying to remember the next thing on their shopping list, or so overcome with angst that they can't finish their sentence. I feel that the world needs a new form of punctuation to convey this Evil Ellipsis. (I also wonder if aspiring evil overlords can buy self-help books that teach them how to employ such a pause. It wouldn't do to use it in all the wrong places. "Today we will have... [pause to stub out cigarette in menacing fashion]... baked beans. On toast."
- I dragged myself to work on Friday, but found myself lacking in brain power to do anything other than sort through boxes of old books returned from various sources. One box was labelled "Highbrow produce" from "Highbrow Farm." I could almost be tempted to draw a picture of these highbrow parsnips and carrots, earnestly discussing opera while being boxed up on a farm full of sheep who sneer at reality TV and cows who sit round reading Nietzsche all day. Except that I'm tired, so I won't.