Reading ...

... Haruki Murakami's Wild Sheep Chase. I was pleasantly suprised to find that it referenced Terry Pratchett's disc-world at one point. Other than that it's a funny, weird and wonderful little book. I like this strange man and his strange books. Of course, what the critics deem to be his best book, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, is completely unreadable. More's the pity. i must hae missed something there. But steer clear of that one and you'll get a very rewarding set of books to read all of which manage to paint a picture of Japanese society in recent decades, some wonderful stories and loads of free bewilderment to boot.

In other recent news: we have a new bunny. It's a seven year old one we got from a rodent rehabillitation centre. It's cute as a button and pictures will surely follow. I think we sort of decided to get bunnies that are rejected by their previous owners and which are a bit ... sad, in a way. This one was unlikely to get a new owner, especially since there were young bunnies to choose from so we took the little monster home. It's our good deed of the year for now.

I just read that a new tribe has been discovered in the amazon rainforest. The weird thing is that they actually have an estimate of the number of tribes that are still undiscovered in the world ... now ... how did they do THAT, I wonder ...

http://www.nu.nl/news/1590127/89/Indianenstam_ontdekt_in_oerwoud_Brazili%EB.html

Well ...

... my lady has returned. Actually a few days ago, but we've been busy. Of course when she got back there were stories to tell and things to stow away and stuff. Unfortunately that was also the night that our bunny decided that he had had enough after 4 unhappy years elsewhere and 4 happy ones with us. Then the next day I had training and she needed to do some work because her idiot school couldn't find another way of checking out the exams. Then we had to have a boat ride right after her father decided that getting into an arguement with an amsterdam taxi driver was a smart thing to do. Because they're such reasonable people. So that ended on the police station. And then she came in time problems and we had to grade papers to be ready on monday.

So, yesterday, I was sort of exhausted at my job. I was better off than my lady, though. She's basically fallen ill. Not that she can do anything about that, though ... she's got oral exams to hear. Weirdly enough, together with my big sister.

Long story.

Well ...

... it's amazing how little one does when one's lady is not in the house. It's fascinating. I have the feeling that I've ground to a screeching halt. Really annoying. About the only creative thing I have done of late is figuring out how to make Vodka Martini's. The Vodka Martini is a drink which has a fairly pleasant taste, at least the first half, and gets you drunk amazingly quick. It's rather shocking. I have no head for alcohol, I'll admit as much, but this will do your head in, trust me.

But that's about all. A passing fancy for a drink drunk by posh wannabe's and James Bond.

In truth, I hope that Suusje comes back rather quickly. It's amazing how much support she does lend me by just being there.

Yesterday ...

... my lady left me.

To go to the Ardennes. With 28 kids. And her father.

Yeah. It sounded ominous to me too.

Anyway, they're walking. This is some sort of important experience for young people to have, walking around in hilly countryside. It is supposed to make them better individuals. Which is fine as long as I wasn't convinced that it makes my girlfriend something less than an individual for a few days after. Because, obviously, when she gets home she'll be tired and stuff. Because as it seems kids are noisy and busy and want attention. So, she'll have gotten little sleep and bad food.

And: she took her father along.

Anyway, as this happens at least once a year I sort of have a routine to deal with this thing: I eat badly, sleep little, spend way too much time on computergames (WoW = WOW!) and I am in general reverting back to an earlier form of man. There you go. It turns out that my girlfriend keeps me normal. Otherwise I'd be tired a lot.

For added comfort I'm dealing with the stuff she usually deals with: I have taken over a small part of her actual paid work. I'm correcting stuff. Otherwise there'd be no time to do other stuff. So, I guess you could say that I'm without girl and with an extra task to perform for her school. So, this school of hers has stolen from me twice now. Bastards. They'd better be extra special nice to me when next they see me or I'm going to replace all the walls I knocked out of there a few years back. I'm not above boarding that whole upper floor up again AND replacing that metal monstrosity of an expansion vat. So help me God I will find a couple of nuns to live there too if they're not careful ...

All that aside ...

It would be nice if she got back in one piece.

Chastity

... no, not the idea which is fairly loathsome. But the person and the name.

I recently saw on the TV that (in one of the 'lighter' channels or:'TV for Morons') that Cher has a daughter. And her name is ... chastity. That in and of itself is a giggle right there. A daughter named ... chastity. If a child is hoped to be everything the parents were not then this is such a telling name ... Cher wants to be a nun. Or maybe she regretted having the child: 'if only I'd been chaste ... what a cool name!'

That, however, is beside the point. The point is that it is vicious and cruel for anyone to call you daughter 'She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Fucked' which is basically what she's saying. It's harsh. And then it turns out that this daughter is also gayer than a bag of ferrets ... you're called Chastity. You're gay. Sexually you have an inclination which has it's own built-in street-cred but the name just slays your possibility of ever being anything than a depressed woman at home behind the blinds ... which our Chastity then proceeded to be.

It was a cruel thing to do. I hope other people fail to repeat it. To call anyone after virtues is ridiculous. You just weigh a person down with expectations. Harmony, Grace, Prudence ... stop being unkind to your children people.

Just stop.

Besides ... it's such a stripper name. And that can hardly be the intention, I suspect ...

I just thought of something else. Her last name is Bono. Beavis and Butthead saw the lewd possibilities in that name years ago. She-Who-WIll-Not-Be-Fucked Boner. Cher must really hate kids.