We’d all cast nets into the sea. I think that’s what it is. I’m not entirely sure.

Anyway, if wishes did actually come true, I’d be wishing for the book Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer to be released already, and another hundred books in the series available for sale. I’ve just finished reading the third book Eclipse, and I have to now calm the impatient part of my mind that’s saying “I WANT MORE EDWARD AND BELLA, NOW!!!!!!” Because that part of my mind is stupid and demanding.

The funny part about these books is that right about the time I got the first one, I also bought the Vampire Weekend CD. It’s funny because those books are about vampires (hot vampires), and the CD is called Vampire Weekend but it’s not really about Vampires at all. My Chemical Romance makes a better soundtrack to the Twilight series than Vampire Weekend does. Anyway, Vampire Weekend is one of my new favourites. Whoever you are, you should check them out. They’re not for everyone, and chances are that if you listen to Tool and Metallica you’ll only be able to appreciate their ability to use their instruments and not much else, but still, give them a try.

Another thing I’d recommend is my new favourite podcast – being the Keith And The Girl podcast. This is something I’ve only recently started listening to – just over the past few weeks. I’ve been downloading episodes at night or on the weekends, and listen to them throughout the day at work. The good thing about this is that I have something awesome to listen to while I work, the bad thing about it is that sometimes I burst out laughing for no apparent reason (from the perspective of my colleagues). I’ve been trying to keep it down to the occasional amused grin or giggle, but sometimes something Keith or Chemda or Patrice or anyone on the show says or does gets the better of me. Sometimes it’s just the news stories that they read out. Also Andy Rooney.

Anyway, I should get to sleep. Work tomorrow, then the day after that, then the day after that, then the day after that. But not the day after that, because that will be Saturday. Holy crap this four-day weekend went fast! Oh, and happy egg day everyone! (for Sunday). And happy birthday mum! (for Sunday). Love you all! I am very tired!

These are some ridiculously expensive presents that no one will ever get me because they are too expensive. Like Jem, they’re truly outrageous! But only in the monetary sense, because in every other sense they are just plain awesome.

1. A new Nintendo DS Lite
Yeah. now you totally see what I mean. “But Cass,” you say, “I thought you already had a DS! You’re completely DS-CRAZY!”
Well, you see, the sad part is that I am a DS-o-phile, and the even sadder part is that my DS broke a while ago (maybe a month now?) so now I am unable to finish Zelda, and also I’m getting more and more afraid of the weeding I’ll have to do when I eventually get back on to Animal Crossing

2. DVD: Nadia and the Secret of Bluewater
Don’t even try. You’re so not going to find it at JB. And no, it’s not a porn, it’s an anime. And no, it’s not hentai.

3. A new mobile phone
I’m currently using Tim’s old mobile. I would dearly love to have a phone which can use realtones and also has other fun features.

4. A drawing tablet for the computer
But not the one that’s on display/demo at Harvey Norman Indooroopilly, that one has not worked once in the million times we’ve been there.

5. Anything with mermaids
Okay so this might not be ridiculously expensive. I pretty much mean movies or tv shows. I already have the first two DVDs of the first season of H2o – Just Add Water. Yay!

6. Those little trading arts final fantasy figurines
They are so cute. And awesome.

7. Several out-of-print books, as follows:
* After the Plague – Jean Ure
* Z for Zachariah – Robert O’Brien
* A Gift Upon the Shore – M. K. Wren

I’m not sure about the second and third book, but I am a billion percents sure that the first book is out of print. And I waaaaaaant it

*Edit: I had to cross out the Z for Zachariah book, because Tim bought some books online from fishpond.com.au, and he needed another book to bring up the total for some reason. I was happy to oblige. Thanks Tim!

Last week, Ken told me about how he had been at a funeral where, in the middle of the eulogy, someone’s mobile phone started ringing. Was there the possibility that this guy had forgotten to switch his phone off, or onto silent, before the service had commenced? Apparently not, as he answered his phone and started talking right there in the church. I thought that this had to be some sort of joke, because Ken and Co. are well versed in sarcasm and facetiousness. However, Ken assured me this was no joke. He was completely serious. I can’t imagine anyone thinking that it would be appropriate to have your phone on and answer any call that might come through while you are at a *funeral*. Tim told me that the last time he had been to a funeral, the priest had requested that everyone turn off their mobile phones out of respect for the deceased and bereaved. The fact that people actually have to be TOLD to turn off their mobile phones at a funeral is astounding.

*** Enough of fangry things, I have not been able to write in a while, so I should have other things to say too. Maybe. …

1. I’ve been playing Guitar Hero II all evening (except for when I was watching Grey’s Anatomy) and the tips of my fingers are half numb and half tingling with painful pins & needles. Plus my wrist doesn’t like being held at the angle needed for holding the guitar for so long (my robotic wrist, that is – not the real one). I can tell I’m getting better, but sometimes I lose concentration after looking at the screen for too long. My favourite song that I seem to do well on is “Crazy for you” by Heart. I liked their Barracuda song too.

2. I have the new Harry Potter book. I’ve already read about 210 pages out of the 600-odd total, which is pretty good considering I haven’t really spent that much time on it this weekend.

3. This probably should have been number 1, but I’m too tired to go back through and edit these points, so let’s just all agree they are not in order of importance. Good. Today is Tim’s birthday. We went out for dinner last night to Dos Amigos restaurant, which is just down from Tim’s place. The meal was really delicious, even though I had the same thing I always get (If God really dwells within us like they say, I sure hope he likes enchiladas, cause that’s what he’s gettin’!). Then we came back to Tim’s place and had an ice cream dessert log as a cake. We put candles in and sang happy birthday. It was a nice night.

4. Tim has gone to New Zealand until Friday, which means that I will be a little bit forlorn. But not too much. It may not sound like a long time, but it feels like ages to me. Probably just because hes’ in another country and another time zone, though it’s not nearly as bad as when he was in the UK & Ireland.

5. I ordered an MP3 player and a ninjapass for my DS last week. I’m hoping they arrive very soon – especially the mp3 player because I just got the new Interpol album, and I’ve been hanging out for something to listen to at work. Ninjapass should be awesome too though.

Anyway, I am very tired so I think i shall go to bed. Gute Nacht!

I’ve been reading up on the “Boiling Frog” analogy. I first came across this in high school, when the book “The Gathering” by Isobelle Carmody was part of the year 9 curriculum. I can’t remember what they’re trying to explain with the analogy. Recently I remembered it in an odd, slightly nostalgic moment, and decided to do some research because I thought there could be an interesting story behind it, and a possible debunking. So, I have found that it is a very common analogy, only recently debunked by experiments, but the argument goes that these most recent experiments heat the water at a much faster rate than that of the original experiments.

But anyway, it made me wonder at the common usage of this analogy. You could end up disproving your own point by using it. Am I making any sense whatsoever? My brain isn’t calibrated for this kind of information downloading. Well, not at the moment anyway. Come back in a couple of days and I might be more coherent. I guess what I mean is that if you use an analogy based on a scientific theory, and that is later contested or disproven, then wouldn’t the gravity of your original point be undermined somewhat? Instead of meaning “Be careful of complacency, small changes over a long period of time can have more disastrous effects than you might initially be able to comprehend”, it might become, “I don’t do my own research, can you tell?”. I still haven’t really conveyed what I had in mind. Chk chk chk.

Zomg did anyone else see the multitudes of people on platform 5 & 6 at Central Station this afternoon? Looks like Queensland Rail are improving their service! They had announcements going over the loudspeaker saying “Due to overcrowding please remain on the concourse”. This would mean nothing to me if I were one of those people being overcrowding. I’d be all, “Concourse? what concourse? do we use that word here?” I wonder what was going on. I’m surprised people didn’t look more fed up than they did. And then the 5:36 Elimbah express arrived early, at 5:26, and then they updated the time of departure to 5:28. So what about all those people who live at Elimbah (God forbid – where even is that?) which must be a fair way out because it’s an express train, who were counting on the train leaving at 5:36 because it ties in with their start and finish times, are going to miss their train because it went eight minutes early! I’d be pretty ticked off if it happened to me, and I only get off at Wilston!

But speaking of afternoon trains, how did nighttime start at 5pm all of a sudden? It’s not nice walking home in the dark! I’ll be glad when it’s colder and I get to feel cold and wear warm clothes. It was so humid today.

I want to know everything there is to know in the world. Actually, it’s mainly just the useless things I want to know. I really wanted to learn Latin so when Noelle and I sing Sub Tuum on a drunken walk from the Valley to the City, I actually know what I’m saying. This is why I ask so many questions. It’s not just a generation-y thing. Why why why? I want to know why about everything. I find almost everything fascinating. But I know I have to curb this habit of asking questions, some people don’t like it. It can be considered impolite to question people, especially those older than you. When I’m old too it will no longer matter. I’ll be able to ask as many questions as I like.

I’ve been watching Dilbert lately. The funniest episode so far was the very last one where Dilbert has been impregnated by a cow/alien/robot/hillbilly, and throughout the pregnancy he took on all these feminine traits. He was mouthing off about something or other with Asok and Wally and Loud Howard, and when they offered solutions he said “Why are you doing this? I don’t want solutions!” which is so true. Men always offer solutions to women when women complain about things, but what women really want is just sympathy. That’s difficult for men, they like to solve things. They think that a woman telling him her problem is an invitation to offer a solution to it. Women then get frustrated because they just want the man to listen and make alternately sympathetic and reassuring noises.

My opinoin on this entire issue from a female perspective is this: Your female friends are the best ones to tell your problems to. They can empathise and will give you the response you want/need (most of the time). Of course you are free to share your issues with the man in your life, but it’s not fair to get mad at him for trying to fix the problem.
And to guys… well… you can offer us solutions, but we’re not always going to appreciate them.

I agree with many aspects of the suffragette movement, and I’m grateful for what they achieved through their hard work and suffering, but I also think that there is a point at which it becomes too political when it should be scientific. For one thing, the whole “I can do anything you can do” is not necessarily true. The differences in brain structure between men and women are what causes men to be, generally, better at solving spatial problems – men can focus extremely well on one task, which leads to the conclusion that men can only do one thing at a time. That might be true, but most of the time they do it well. Due to having more connections between the left and right sides of the brain than men do, women are able to multi-task and empathise – it becomes harder to separate the emotional from the physical, which is why women will often say “I feel…” when referring to situations, whereas men will concentrate on the facts (as they see them). These extra connections between right & left cerebral hemispheres are also responsible for the difficulty that women have in reading maps, or from telling their left from right. (I have extreme difficulty telling left from right. When asked directions, I can point in the direction I need to go, but can’t tell you whether that direction is left or right.)

I guess that this should be evidence enough that I am fascinated also by the physical/mental/emotional differences between males and females. In humans, anyway. It would be interesting to study gender roles in other species and compare them. I want to go to Uni!

These are some more things I could probably like or get to liking for my birthday:

* Haircut & colour @ Hairzoom (because I can’t afford it this month and I will scream or dye my hair black if I have to wait any longer with this stupid colour)

* Ninjaware for my DS

* New shoes (size 10!)

* Prepaid voucher for the new Harry Potter book at Borders (because they give you a free barn owl)

* A colour inkjet printer (one that actually comes with ink cartridges)

* Photo paper that I can print onto

* 3M Photo-paper post-its

* Yo momma

Current song playing on repeat in my head is “Say Hello to the Angels” by Interpol. I can’t find a music video for it. Maybe there isn’t one?

Current song actually playing on WMP is “Change in the House of Flies” by Deftones. I don’t have the entire White Pony album, just this one song. I remember Lauren talking about an album of the Deftones where they just played all acoustic stuff. I’d like to hear it, but I can’t remember what it was. Anyway, the whole entomological theme reminds me of “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. Reading that book made me feel vaguely uneasy. I could place myself in Gregor’s skin much too easily, so I guess that in that way the writing was effective. But still, (to use an entirely banal expression) it really creeped me out. I very much like the song though.

I’d love to learn German. I never used to think about the career prospects of study (it was always just knowledge for knowledges sake) but now, every time I think of something I’d like to study, the thought comes hand in hand with “and where would that take me? What would I gain from that?” The obvious answer is “Knowledge”, which used to be the most important thing to me. Maybe I’ve started to be more practical… or boring. I don’t know. I was also thinking about the things I want to study, if they’re not going to lead into an external career, then I could just keep studying and researching until I become an expert and then I could be a university lecturer or even just do research for the universities. If I was a washed-up action-hero movie star with a German accent, I might even receive an honorary degree or two. That’d be awesome.

I am so tired. I’m at that point where my eyes are closing by themselves, or they’re telling me they want to close. Last night, Nathan and Lauren came over and they had a bbq, which Chris and I missed most of because we went to the supermarket. Later on, Chris and I got dressed up and went out in the Valley. We got called emos. We drove around for a while, made a video (which is on Chris’ computer so I can’t post it yet), and then went home at about 11:30pm. I didn’t end up going to bed until about 1am though, because as soon as I get on the computer I hang about for ages just doing nothing. Maybe looking at ImageChan (it’s less annoying than sifting through all the crap at 4chan to see some vaguely amusing photoshopped image) or just clicking the StumbleUpon button a million times.

This is not Sparta, this is me dressed up for Friday 13th. Today Chris and I went into the Valley and had yum cha (which was really expoola because we just kept getting plates of crap and not eating them!!1) and then walked around the markets for a bit. I purchased some jewellery and other stuff, as did Christopher. This afternoon we went out to Stafford and saw “300″ at the cinemas there. It was a really cheesy movie. Phillip said that it was really gory, but I didn’t think it was. There was a bit of cartoon blood splatters, and a couple of corpse piles, but nothing that offensive.

Oh btw, it’s my birthday on the 23rd (that’s not this Monday coming, but next Monday). My birthday celebrations, however, will be on Saturday 21st April starting at around 7:00-7:30pm at my house. It’s a BBQ so byo meat, or whatever. Some alcohols and foods will be provided. Others you will have to hunt and gather yourselves. We have several houses surrounding ours, which may or may not be ideal places for scavenging. Not that I am suggesting nor condoning that sort of behaviour. No siree.

I thought I would write a birthday wish list, if anyone who is buying me a present is having trouble figuring out what to get me:

* jewellery
* make-up (only for those that are sure they know what I like!)
* tetris for DS
* tickets to something good
* subscription to Frankie magazine
* noo shoes
* something mybestest branded
* a monthly two-zone translink ticket
* something lovely and surprising and thoughtful

And I could probably name a few more things once I’ve been into the city. I’m going there tomorrow afternoon after work. I’ll keep you posted.

I told a lot of people that I had seen a fox jumping on a trampoline. In case there were any doubting thomases out there (why i oughta! do these look like flesh wounds to you?) here is the proof:

If I ever opened a trampoline store, I don’t think I’d call it Trampoland, because you might think it was a store for tramps, which is not the impression we are trying to convey with our store. On the other hand, we would not prohibit tramps from browsing or testing the trampolines, unless a tramp’s gyrations seem to be getting out of control.

Lol. A random quote from Nathan which I wrote down in my phone for some reason: “The worst thing about being a rollerblader is having to tell your mum & dad you’re gay.”

I made Tim watch the music video for my favourite (well, one of my favourites…) Interpol song, “Evil” on youtube, because of the freaky puppet. He then had to one-up me by showing me the video clip for Tool’s “Parabol/Parabola“. I just started watching it again on youtube now, and I stopped because it makes me feel like I’m looking in on a nightmare. It’s like someone is seeing this in their mind, their brain is conjuring up these freakish images, and I’m an unintended audience. It’s almost voyeuristic.

Anyway, there’s one particular part that reminds me of something out of one of my favourite books. The book is “Plague” (otherwise known as “Plague 99″, no longer in print, but you can probably find it on Amazon or Alibris if you’re curious, or just borrow mine if you know me) by Jean Ure. The part of the film clip that reminds me of the book is 3.24 minutes into the video, when the weird men rise up off the floor so that they are perpendicular to the ground, and start vomiting thick black goop onto the table in front of them in the shape of a circle. In “Plague”, the plague causes victims to spew stinking black vomit in the later stages, perhaps a couple of days before they die. The black vomit is probably caused by necrosis of the internal organs. For some reason, I like the fear that this concept instills in me, in the same way that I like being frightened in horror films – I think because it’s not real. I think this is also the reason for my fear of zombies. Logically I know that zombies don’t exist. In the world where my imagination rules (in my head), anything is possible.

Sometimes my feelings get in the way of what I really feel I needed to say. Thanks Modest Mouse. I so totally go off on a tangent sometimes. Lots of times. Always.

So anyway, tomorrow is Friday the 13th. Chris is coming up from faraway so that we may go be random in honour of this most emo of occasions. I do believe black is in order. Gentlemen, ready my steed, tomorrow we ride! (gallop gallop gallop).

Some things I have found in my travels:

I thought I’d compare my answers to this random blog survey from a while ago to how I would answer the questions today. The “Then” answers are from sometime in 2001. About six years ago now

1. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND GIVE BIRTH TO YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD YOU NAME YOU?

Then: I find saskia pretty unusual, and i always think it suits me for some reason… yeah. saskia.
Now: I can’t imagine having any other name than Cass. Actually, I can imagine it, but if I do it’s just like me thinking “this name so doesn’t suit me!”. Also, what’s the deal with giving birth to yourself? Doubleyouteeeff!!one

2. WHAT TWO ADJECTIVES WOULD YOU USE TO DESCRIBE THE FOLLOWING:

YOUR INTELLECT:

Then: useful, interesting
Now: insatiable, dormant

YOUR SEX LIFE:

Then: boring, fucked (ha… how ironic)
Now: Just right

YOUR ATTITUDE:

Then: weird, happy
Now: hyper, casual

YOUR SPIRITUALITY:

Then: personal, original
Now: still undiscovered

YOUR PASSIONS:

Then: beautiful, individual
Now: obscure, undefined

YOUR FAMILY:

Then: unique, brilliant
Now: strong, unique

YOUR FRIENDS:

Then: great but absent
Now: supportive, appreciated

3. TO GET RIGHT TO THE MEAT…IF YOU HAD THE OPTION OF BUMPIN UGLIES WITH ANYONE YOU KNOW PERSONALLY…WHO WOULD IT BE?

Then: I really don’t understand the whole ‘bumpin uglies’ term. but um… at the moment, i don’t know anyone well enough to want to ‘bump uglies’ with… ask me last week and i would have said… oh you don’t want to know
Now: Just one person right now. I generally don’t look around at my friends and think “gosh I’d really like to root you.”

ANY MUSICIAN?

Then: anyone tall, dark, cute… with olive skin and beautiful eyes… who fits that description? I don’t really take that much notice of what musicians look like… i’m too busy listening to their music
Now: Oh um… Paul Banks (Interpol); Julian Casablancas (The Strokes); any one of The Kooks; Trent Reznor (NIN… and he sort of reminds me of Snape from HP – Alan Rickman); Kele Okereke (Bloc Party).

ANY ACTOR?

Then: Oh yeah, Logan from dark angel… michael weatherly. Or Hugh Jackman.. he is sooo sexy.
Now: Noel Fielding from The Mighty Boosh; Richard Kahan from The 4400; McGee or Dinozzo from NCIS

ANY WRITER?

Then: That would be a bit sad wouldn’t it? the only male writers that I admire (whose books I read) are much too old.
Now: Hmmmm still no.

4. IF YOU COULD BRING ANYONE BACK FROM THE DEAD TO DO THE HORIZONTAL BOP WITH, WHO WOULD IT BE?

Then: ew… bring people back from the dead? that sounds gross…necrophaelia or something…
Now: Yeah… still not a necrophiliac.

5. IF YOU COULD REPLACE ANY MEMBER OF ANY BAND, DEAD OR LIVING, WHOSE PLACE WOULD YOU TAKE?

Then: I wouldn’t want to replace any members of a band.. except for if the person i was replacing was really bad and it would be an improvement… but that’d be embarrassing. My non-existent reputation would really take a beating.
Now: I wouldn’t want to replace any member of a band, except maybe for one night just to pretend to play guitar and really i’m just going “strum strum strum!” really enthusiastically. Only it’s not plugged in. So no one can hear it. But only once.

6. IF YOU COULD LIVE THE LIFE OF ANY CHARACTER IN ANY MOVIE, WHOSE LIFE WOULD YOU LIVE?

Then: I’m going to cheat in this one… i want to be max from the dark angel pilot episode, which was also released as a single movie… or else i’d want to be jen from crouching tiger, hidden dragon.
Now: I really like my life. Maybe I would like to play the lead role in the movie of my life.

ANY BOOK?

Then: I’d love to be Sayuri from Memoirs of a Geisha, just to wear all those beautiful Kimino…
Now: Either Penelope or Charlotte from The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (Eva Rice), Kivrin from Doomsday Book (Connie Willis), Liyana from Habibi (Naomi Shihab-Nye), Ginny from Harry Potter

ANY TV SHOW?

Then: Max from DARK ANGEL! stupid question… To make it a bit more interesting, i’d also like to be maya from just shoot me… the whole journalism thing attracts me… but i wouldn’t be so annoyingly moralistic
Now: Still Max from Dark Angel, and also Abby from NCIS

7. IF YOU WERE TO TITLE YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD THE TITLE BE?

Then: “The essence of Mary”… or “I narrowly missed a bear” or “I’m not a bad driver – these are just my oranges”
Now: Super Freak, maybe… or Nerd Central. Or maybe “I can has a life?” and then, underneath that, “No, you can’t has a life – Not yours (pointing to a picture of a life)”

8. WHAT SONG, IF ANY, IS SO PERSONAL TO YOU THAT YOU COULD HAVE WRITTEN IT?

Then: Bic Runga, Sway… I always relate so well to that song.. especially if i have a crush on someone when i hear it… ^_^
Now: Pretty much if any song relates to any sort of emotionality, or even if it doesn’t, I will find a way to relate it to my life and feel emotional about it (either positive or negative). That’s sort of the reason that I listen to music. That and that it rocks.

9. WHAT MOVIE, IF ANY, DO YOU WISH YOU HAD WRITTEN?

Then: Hmm.. tough one. Oh, I wish i had written dogma, cause that was such a funny movie and i wish i could take credit for it. Jay and silent bob crack me up.
Now: Any of my favourite movies. But then again, I wonder if I could really have enjoyed them as much as I did if I actually came up with them?

10. WHAT BOOK, IF ANY, DO YOU WISH YOU HAD WRITTEN?

Then: Habibi, by Naomi Shihab Nye, because it’s a beautiful book and i could read it a million times without getting tired of it.
Now: Probably Harry Potter, because then I would know the ending.

11. IF YOU WERE TO LIST THE ESSENTIAL QUALTIES OF YOUR PERFECT LOVER, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

Then: Sensitive but not to the point of being annoying, able to take control, be caring, understanding, strong (not necessarily physically, although it would help) someone that i love and understand, and who loves and understands me… or at least, who likes me back. Am i naive or what??? lol.
Now: Strength (inner strength – emotionally, strength of character, strength of convictions), openness, sense of adventure, funny, weird, interesting

12. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND RELIVE ANY PORTION OF YOUR HISTORY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Then: *I’ve edited this, because it goes on for a bit and it’s annoying*
Now: Nussink, I am me because of the choices I have made and the things I have experienced.

13. IF YOU WERE A PAWN SHOP ITEM, WAITING PATIENTLY TO BE REDEEMED, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?

Then: a pokemon trading card… or a beanie baby toy… or some useless crap like that. I don’t know why… just what came into my head.
Now: I’d probably be a game console… “pick me! Pick me! I’m so much fun! Come and play!”

14. IF YOU WERE A REFRIGERATOR, WHAT SORT OF MAGNETS WOULD YOU STICK TO YOURSELF?

Then: Definitely the ones that say “Be smart, use public transport, and GO CAT GO!” which are advertising queensland public transport. my sister has them on her fridge. I’d also have all the free magnets that you get from places like traveland and the video store.
Now: The same magnets that are on our fridge now. Angela Anaconda, brightly coloured letter magnets so you can write things like “Rosie eatz dick”.

15. IF YOU WERE A CLOCK WHAT TIME WOULD YOU BE?

Then: 6:54am
Now: 8:20pm

16. ARE YOU SICK OF THESE QUESTIONS YET

Then: well, if i was i wouldn’t keep going. it was my choice to do this survey wasn’t it? least i think it was my choice…
Now: Still a dumb question.

17. HOW MANY SURREALISTS DOES IT TAKE TO SCREW IN A LIGHTBULB?

Then: stuff the surrealists… i could make a good joke out of that one: “they didn’t have enough to go around” or something.
Now: Dripping wax melted cartoon face.

About a year and a half ago, I read Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and consequently became fascinated by the Black Death.

The cause of the Black Death has been the subject of much conjecture over the years. To most people “Black Death” is synonymous with “Bubonic Plague”. New research has come to light that the fatalities relating to the Black Death may have been caused by a virus similar to Ebola, or even by anthrax. The reason for the name “Black Death” was not because of acral necrosis, which is the common belief, but because of the dark times that befell the world because of the overabundance of disease and death.

The plague did more than just kill 1/2 to 2/3 of the worlds’ population – it also played a big part in many of the peasant uprisings and increased wages and freedom for the working class in Europe. Due to the shortage of peasants to take care of manual labour, they became a hot commodity and could bargain better deals for themselves. Because the upper- and middle-class were dying off as well, more people from the lower classes were able to move up into higher social standing. This, along with other contributing factors, is one of the purpoted causes of the Great Vowel Shift which caused most of the discrepancy between English spelling and pronunciation. The plague was also instrumental in reducing the Church’s influence on everyday life, as the clerics were unable to cure the sick with their solutions of burning Jewish people, lepers, and those with skin conditions such as acne and psoriasis, people became disillusioned with the Church. Due to the high death rates, untrained clerics were recruited by the Church, resulting in abuse of the sway they held over the general population.

There were three different variations of the plague. First there was the bubonic plague, which caused the lymph nodes to swell and become filled with pus and blood. This was the most common form of the plague seen during the Black Death. Second was the pneumonic plague, which infected the lungs and respiratory system. This was the most contagious form of the disease. Third was septacaemic, which was the most deadly and had close to a 100% mortality rate. Septacaemic plague was a poisoning of the blood and caused disseminated intravascular coagulation – basically, simultaneous clotting of the blood in all the veins in your body.

The bubonic and septacaemic plagues were carried by fleas inhabiting black rats. When the brown rat became the dominant rat in Europe, the plgaue’s effectiveness in perpetuating itself was less successful. Common opinion is that the plague originated in Asia, and first appeared in China in the 1300s. It then spread a trail of death right across Asia and Europe, sometimes leaving whole villages devoid of any life. Ships left ports with hundreds of sailors, only to be found grounded on foreign shores with not a sinlge person left alive to moor the ship. Because death was so commonplace, crying for those who had passed became pointless and subsequently, few tears were shed over death. Bodies were routinely thrown into mass graves, or just piled up outside the town walls.

An interesting effect that the plague has had on the natural selection of genetics for the current population of European nations which were affected from the plague is a genetic mutation/flaw that means 10% of the population has a resistance to HIV. I’m not sure if the link between HIV & the Plague has been discovered yet.

Anyway, I’m tired and I have no idea why this turned into an essay about the plague.

Today is Tuesday, but my first day of work for the week, so it’s really my Monday. Monday’s are never usually a good day for me, but when I’m tired they’re noticeably worse. Also when I’m worried about things, work things for example, that can make for a long, unproductive day. But having a decision made to set things in motion to change my current situation makes me feel a little better.

Napoleon kitten is in love with my computer. He’s in love with the cursor, he’s in love with the text running across the screen as I type, and he’s in love with the menus that magically appear when I click on things. Also I think he just wants to be a part of whatever anyone is doing at that point in time that appears mildly interesting. He’s grown a lot since I first got him, but I thought he’d appear heaps bigger when we got back from the weekend away. He’s so soft and purry and beautiful.

Today I feel like staying home, sleeping, and reading. I’m reading Catch 22 at the moment, by Joseph Heller. Noelle is reading it as well, which is what inspired me to go buy it. She got her copy from the shelf at her work, because she was bored and had nothing to read on the train. When she was over at my place, she started telling me about it, and it sounded so weird that I had to get it. It’s so funny! And weird. Here is the Book-a-minute version of it (not that I agree with their summarisation of the entire thing, because I’m not even thinking about the anti-war aspect of the book, I’m just enjoying the odd conversations and ridiculous things everyone does and says.)

We’ve been at Yamba all weekend, and it rained for two & a half out of the four days we were there (Saturday, Sunday, and half of Monday). Still, on Monday Christian managed to get some nice shots of main beach, while the sun was shining for at little while. Also we drove to Grafton, and had a look at the Jacarandas in full bloom. We went to See Park. I haven’t been there in ages, and was trying to remember where it was. I didn’t remember it being right next to the Waterslide, but there were lots of things that surprised me about Grafton. The huge new Bunnings, for example, and the new Catherine McAuley College… I guess the kids won’t be able to sneak out to KFC anymore, or wag off and go to Shoppingworld!