I bought The Dice Man because I had heard of it and it was touted as a classic. The quote on the back was from Loaded, not the most respectable of publications but it is a bold quote nevertheless. It says ‘novelist of the century’. So I started it a few days ago and I had pretty low expectations to be honest. I don’t know why, but I just did. I still do, which makes no sense at all as I’m in awe of the book. It’s so much more than I could ever have hoped for, nevermind expected.

I’m really shit at explaining myself about many things, this is just going to be one of them. A couple of lines hit me a moment ago, very simple but oh so major, the first line (my bold) hit hard.

“I saw then clearly for the first time that the fear keeps us huddled in the cave of self – a group of behaviour patters we have mastered and have no intention of risking failure by abandoning”

***

Way back in the mists of time, when I was in serious relationship something we used to semi joke about was how we would divide up the rooms when we moved in together, we never quite made it that far but it looked close for a while. The line was that I would get a computer room and she would get a library. Looking around my room today, I need a room just for books. I’ve got no space at all for what I have, my three big bookshelves are overflowing and I have boxes of books on the floor. I don’t like it. I hate not having my books on shelves in order. No real order, but my order and I don’t see this changing anytime soon. I want to have a house where I have a room full of book shelves and display cases that I can fill up with books and models and where I can browse for something to catch my attention or go in and get the book I want from where it belongs. Someday…maybe.

***

Some interesting stuff going on in work. There is a chance and unfortunately not as small a chance as I’d like that I’m going to end up taking ownership of a new version of a project which was the bane of my life for about 8 months. I’m not sure I’m the right person to do the job but I just don’t know. Travel is a perk yes, but I really really don’t think I’m the right person for it. I have a 10:00 meeting about it in the morning. This week has just become fuck busy. I went from having the usual few calls to having about 6 hours of conference calls tomorrow starting at 08:15. Some of it is good I guess but it’s a lot of time to spend pacing at my desk.

***

In other news there isn’t really any other news, things are ticking along. I really should be asleep, I have to be in early in the morning. I want to get home tomorrow night aswell and spend some quality time with my tv. I’ve not been doing all that much of that.

So in brief.
– Touchpads are evil.
– 2 – 1 in chess to me at lunch today. I was lucky.
– Irish crisps are the best there is.
– there is something extra nice about toasted cheese sandwiches.
– Internet access rocks and also means less sleep. Fair trade I think.
– May have some new West Wing tomorrow 🙂 🙂
– My new boss starts on Monday, could be good, should be interesting.
– Family are in France, joining them looks to be falling through…shock.
– Longboxes are required.
– Not once today did I listen to music in work. I never had the chance.
– What was wrong with Windows 98 that needed upgrading? It’s easily my favourite version (I know I’m a geek).
– What’s the difference between ‘ ‘ and ” ” ?
– September 25th is a date I have set for myself, I wonder if I’ll have any joy.

Right, time to go and get some sleep.