I think we all know the difference between loneliness and solitude. Nobody likes feeling lonely, there have been countless songs and poems, books and films made about it.

One of my favourite ones on the subject is from Childe Harold’s Pilrgrimage, by Lord Byron. Admittedly, the translation, at least in my opinion, has a more flowing structure and is more understandable, but that can be attributed to the fact, that the language we are best at is our mother tongue.

There is a part of another poem on a similar subject, that I like. Alone, by Edgar Allan Poe.

Now imagine that today was the last day you were ever alone. How would you deal with it? What would you do?

I’d go to a forest and sit still.

When I started my “writing quest” I overestimated the amount of free time I have. Well, not so much “free time” as, time when I am at home. For the past few weeks I find myself using the house merely as a place to sleep and eat. Sometimes not even as that… On the weekend, I started tidying up my room, consequently it’s still a complete mess.

So, I shall reconsider and customise the details of my two quests, as apparently something has to be done to ensure consistency. Also, with the graduation coming up and the teachers demanding things I’m not used to doing - like homework and all that jazz, I shall edit the books to read list. I’ll narrow it down to 50, and give myself a year. The specific list of books will also be published here.

This is all more for my amusement and more of a way for me to stick to my decisions, than something meant to amuse my readers. Sorry, people. :ppp

Let’s pretend, for continuity’s sake, that this was written yesterday. :)

I have another quest announcement! Yay. ;) I want to read the Time’s 100 Greatest Novels in a year and a half. It might sound like a lot of time, but it’s not, trust me. That is, the 22nd of March, 2009.

I’ve been surfing through the “Greatest Novel” webpages for a few days now and this was the only one I found, that didn’t include Madame Bovary. I really don’t like that book.

Wish me luck. ;)

A little while ago, my auntie got a nifty device attached to her computer. It can download and upload thingies to and from my mobile phone. A whole Willie Wonka thing going on… I was wondering if I tried sending a chocolate to the computer and then copy the thing a few hundred times, then send it back out again… End to world hunger. What do you think? Well, maybe just the end to low blood sugar. And I’d finally find out, through empirical evidence, how much 2GB of chocolate is in kg.

However, until I do that, I am still open to suggestions. The best one and the one that made most sense, came from Migs. How many bites do you need to eat 2kg of chocolate?

In 100g of chocolate, there are 5 rows with 3 pieces. Most people eat chocolate piece by piece, so it’s valid to suggest that the number of pieces equals the number of bites. There’s 5×3=15 pieces in 100g, so in 1kg, that would be 15×10=150 pieces. 150 pieces = 150 bites = 150bytes. 300 bites for 2kg of chocolate…

2gb of chocolate is therefore 13981.013 kilograms.

Cool. No more pollution from factories and all that jazz. Manufacturing will get a whole new dimension. People will have more time to do important things… Revolution!

Does anybody remember the Smurfs? More specifically, Gargamel’s pet cat, Azrael? I found it a bit peculiar and quite morbid, to find out that in Christian mythology, Azrael is the angel of death. Odd symbolism for a children’s cartoon.

A few days ago, I took the time to watch The Prophecy. The film is a bit of a clichée, but I enjoy it never the less. Of course, having Christopher Walken play Gabriel, might have something to do with it. Gabriel is one of my favourite angels, besides the melodic name, he is also occasionally referred to as angel of death. One of these occasions being the Prophecy, the story twists the nature of angels beyond recognition and asks a very interesting question. Thomas, unrealised priest and a goody-two-shoes asks a school teacher: “Did you ever notice how in the Bible, when ever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel? “ And when Gabriel claims that in Heaven they believe in love, and is asked what he loves, he replies with: “Cracking your skull.”

It makes you think, how blindly people might believe some things. The irony of the movie, one of my favourite parts, is where Lucifer decides to help Thomas defeat Gabriel. Lucifer, the devil, Viggo Mortensen, helping souls get to heaven, and Gabriel, God’s messenger, trying to turn heaven in another hell. Lucifer, of course, isn’t much for competition, isn’t it better when you dominate the market? You can set your own price and nobody can do a damn thing about it. No wonder he’s trying to stop Gabriel.

Tomorrow, the sky will fall down on our heads. At least that is what the chief in Asterix’s and Obelix’s village believed. Despite the fact that tomorrow never comes, it could metaphorically be said about today, that the sky is still falling down on our heads. Rain. Lots of rain.

I actually quite like rain, but I like it better when I’m warm and dry, with a cup of hot chocolate, sitting with a friend in M. But when I had to get out of that cozy cafe, out into the cold wet world, I didn’t like it as much. The rain is a really pretty thing to observe from inside somewhere. Another thing worth observing is a river during heavy rain… It’s violent, huge, fast…

I can’t wait for the air tomorrow, don’t you just love the fresh, clean feel of air after heavy rain?

It’s probably a bit late for a mission statement, but a few days/weeks ago, our philosophy teacher suggested writing every day to get rid of the horror of an clean white empty page. I vow to do my best, to try and post everyday for the next two months. That is, until the 17th of November, at least.

It doesn’t happen often that I don’t know what to do with an empty page, but I do find myself searching for words quite often. Besides, a little practice never hurt anyone. So, from now on, you may expect daily updates on a, more or less, regular basis.

I was thinking this morning, as I stole a sip of coffee from my grandmother, how good it feels and all the other things that feel really good. I compiled a list of 10 greatest feelings you can have…

There are several milestones in a year. Your birthday, per instance, or New Year’s Eve, the last day of school, or the day your world came to an end. We tend to make life-altering decisions on those days, give ourselves a fresh leaf of paper to start scribbling on… Eventually, destroying the whole thing and starting anew with the next closest milestone.

The closest milestone, from today is tomorrow. Well, today rather, seeing as it is past midnight. The first day of school, I feel as if I am 7 again and going to 1st grade, having that inexplicable feeling that everybody is bigger than me. My first days in the previous 4 years on the school have been accompanied by a peculiar lack of feeling, the details of where I was to be contained for the better part of my year being too insignificant to bother.

I am different this year, not in any outwardly way, but my perception has changed. Better put would be, that there are now two perceptions. One is a frog’s point of view and the other one belongs to a bird.

Either way, I honour the coming milestone with a new decision.
This year, I’ll be different.

For any cynic who reads this, wait till I prove I won’t be. Shoo.