2002 / february / 22
thankful, or: ah well.
since the summer, i've been staying at friends' places off and on,
and after a break, i'm back to that lifestyle again.
No cat, this time. Not in the house, at least: i've got a real cat-lady
nextdoor who feeds at least ten of them. not as crazy as some, just a
little mad.
But that's all sidelines. i moved in with my backpack on a sunday
afternoon, went out for a walk, then did the necessary shopping -
by now, i know that i need thai curry paste, coconut milk and koriander
stocked in the cupboard to at home (and bran flakes, soy milk and vitaday juice.
and chocolate). so, settled in, i went for the tv.
to find out that it doesn't work. Damnit.
but... hey, that's not so bad after all. very quickly my feelings went
from irritation, to emberassment that i found it out only hours after
moving in, to a very light-hearted acceptance: ah well.
(which was nice. but i digress)
then, a week later, as i came in one evening, i flicked the light switch
and nothing happened. no light in the hall. no light in the livingroom.
no radio. no telephone - the only handset was a cordless one that needs
juice, the phone plug is ten meters from the nearest outlet that's still
live. and no extension cord in the house.
i assessed the situation. The heating still works, that's good.
The kitchen has power, so the fridge won't thaw. good.
Light's still on in the bathroom and the bedroom... hell, this could've
been much worse. Ah well! more light-hearted acceptance.
as for the short-circuit, after double-checking and unplugging all bulbs and
appliances it turned out to be a professional's job. And the first time
that i could take time off and an appointment could be made was friday.
Ah well. yet again.
(the electrician, who was supposed to come in the 'morning slot' - between
eight and twelve, no further details could be given - in the end turned up at
two in the afternoon. but i digress)
you know, i think i've learned something today. well, these weeks. i'm surprised how easy it has turned out to live without my tv and radio fix (not to mention having to dial in for internet, which takes the fun out of usenet and metafilter as well). i've been out with my camera. i've been out. i've read books. and i've even come to a quiet state of nothing, a few times. there's even a bag of crisps that i bought that first day, still unopened weeks later. and i feel thankful. i have no other word. and quiet and energetic at the same time.
... had dinner with an old friend tonight which was great. band rehearsal yesterday
(band, band... yes, that band!) - and who said
a band is only about music? it's about friendship, about fun, about hanging
out, and about the art of fine cooking: Wil made us another one of his famous
mails again, the table was stocked full with south indian dishes,
amongst which a really lovely raita. Hey, if that's not a reason to book us,
what is? c'mon, we need gigs!
... and a movie-date with interesting tension bubbling up the day before that.
life is not dull at the moment. and there we have the weblog-paradox:
the more interesting life gets, the more there is to write about, and less
time. and vice versa (i loved the teenyblog generator from waferbaby,
posted to metafilter a few days ago, which would make a nice related link here.
haven't got the url at hand, writing this offline, probably waferbaby.com.
nah. not important enough.)
The movie, btw, was Amelie and it had me almost rolling out of my seat
with laughter several times. and touched, as well. A nice fairytalish story.
So french. So Paris. A certain Paris, one of the many
that exist, one that i brushed past this summer.
it's past midnight, so good night!
