July 3, 2010

The good news for today is that I have expanded my Russian vocabulary (no, not like that).

Except I need to work on grammar. But that's not a problem because the library's got a nice language collection.

Except I have preposterous amounts of library fines. But that's not a problem because I have just enough money to pay them off.

Except I can't get to the library anyway because my father's car is broken. But that's not a problem because I have a bike.

Except it's got a flat tire. But that's not a problem because I have a pump.

Except my pump's broken. But that's not a problem because there's a hardware store down the street.

Except the hardware store, as of today, doesn't sell any kind of air pump. And the library's closed for two days due to the Fourth of July.

But then I found two pairs of shin guards at a garage sale for two bits each. And by "shin guards" I mean "polymerized samurai armor". Life is awesome.

We talked about everything. Car crashes and steampunk and time travel. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, cannibalism, Who To Eat First, Doctor Who, generic horror movie plots. Traps, music, the Middle Ages, Back To The Future, mad science. Inventors and poison gas and suicide. Piracy, death and happiness. Irony, sleepovers and He Has A Problem. Nuclear and zombie and just plain weird apocalypse. Everything.

We walked on the train track and talked. Were they disused? I think so, but I can't remember. We were too busy talking.

We were all lost, but we didn't care. Found our way back. The place has an interesting form of neglect. Inner-city flowers in a concrete wasteland. Protected by barbed wire and a tall fence, as if a heap of rubbish and some grass needed to be. From above, or even from the motorway flyover, the whole area looked so small, simple. Down below you can't see anything but warehouses. It's too flat; I feel lost without my hills. We took the 'Turn Left' sign literally, and now there's a canal blocking our way.

Still talking. The third's lost in a world of music, but we're together, discovering each other. We could invent the Internet, killer robots, meet Tesla and Babbage and Lovelace and Curie and Byron. It's not lost on us that if we really were born a hundred-and-fifty years ago we'd probably be dead or slaving in a mill. We laugh.

The lamp post has fallen. I balance, don't fall. Thistles, roses, weeds. That sounds ominous. Tiktiktik... There's a monster in the shed. Will it follow the cliches Hollywood tells it to?

When we finally find where we're going, we find we don't want to be there any more. Just carry on talking and walking forever.

We arrive. We leave. We talked about everything, but now it's all over but the memory.

I'M GOING TO JAPAN!!!! YAY!!!
I got the waited email informing me that I'd be going to Japan for a week in November and I'm super duper excited about that. I've always wanted to go to Japan but never got the chance to before. I hope I'll have enough time to see Osaka and not just get stuck in a conference room all day and night. Yeah, the reason I'm going is actually for a conference, but who cares?! I know I don't. I'm finally going to Japan. It's a dream coming true for me; one that I didn't think would.

That's how I was feeling a couple of days ago when I actually got the email, but now I feel like it was just a good dream that I awoke from to go back to my usual dark mood and I keep trying to remind myself of...I don't know really what I'm trying to remind myself of. My mind is swarming with a million thoughts, but none is clear. It's like lots of noises in an empty space making them echo and delivering even more noise.

I wish if this trip was sooner because it would've helped keep my mind off some things and unfortunately I don't have enough money to travel anywhere now, at least, nowhere that would require me to stay at a hotel and the places where I wouldn't need a hotel for, I need a visa for which I probably won't get fast enough. I guess I'll just go hiking or something for the time being.