After a long day's... uh, whatever.

I've been reading some funny stuff on the net. Yes, I know the Lockean (or was it someone else?) idea of the human mind being a blank slate was discredited worked with/around a long time ago, but I've been reading some funny stuff on the net. But I've written that already.

"Deja vu? That usually happens when they change something." (Ah, the allusions to the Heideggerian Das Man - if that's the correct term.)

Therefore, I too, want to be funny. It's just 9.37 ("in the p.m.") and not too late to start. Not very difficult either, but hardly easy, after a whole day spent sitting and staring at a screen. Working. Sort of.

As any researcher must, [but between completing that phrase and glancing at it, I wonder,"how long?"] there are times when one contemplates,

"what the fuck am I doing? Why am I not out there, in the trenches, or making money by the potful, helping change the world, writing clever copy, partnering a growing business, teaching children/college, saving lives" etc.

These examples constitute a representative sample of what some young people I know are up to - productive members of society all, even if they do seem strange, distressed, unsure, and existentially clueless at times.

"Why am I indulging in one of the greatest narcissistic pursuits of all time, believing faithfully in the uniqueness and worth of my ideas, in their potential - in mine! - slogging on, maybe climbing deeper into the web of maya (and also http)"

We now break for a quick intermission. During now and when regular programming resumes, you will hear not the usual invocation of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory lyrics, but something else, something more relevant. (Remember, I promised I'd try to be funny.) :-(

I'm sitting here in the boring room
It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon
I'm wasting my time, I got nothing to do
I'm hanging around, I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens
And I wonder

[and then, one stanza later]

I wonder how, I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree

Actually, all that's happened here is the wondering. No bullshit about neck injury, spinning like a top, or making a slingshot (a childhood wish of mine). Worse, didn't this song get awarded the prize for most ridiculous lyrics of all time? Maybe Madonna wasn't in the running, and that's how Fool's Garden won. But seriously, is there a way to listen to Madonna without having to be subjected to her voice? It's a question I've posed to a couple of friends (who might be reading this, not find the joke funny any longer - hope they don't lose their concentration) but they haven't been able to provide answers either.

I've been at the computer all day; a book lying on my desk reminds me that the human eye wasn't designed to stare at a screen for these many hours a day. But since we're in the age of snappy alliterations conjured by marketing monkeys hired by governments, here's one: The Three R's. Collectively. they're supposed to denote "Readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic" I'll bet the Bush lovers of the world rejoiced at their cleverness, their wit, and their folksy humour when they were told that these were the basics of a solid foundation/education.

Hmm. About the only 'rithmetic I got done today was something on the lines of "300,000k ÷ 10k/s" (the amount of time, in seconds, left for a movie download to be completed) and "853.44mb - 34.98%" (that's how much is left of ten albums, via one slow torrent.) Did read a few articles, and jotted some stuff down, but nothing galactic :-(
_

Some interesting reads:

• (via) "Mile by Mile, India Paves a Smoother Road to Its Future": Like its subject matter (the Golden Quadrilateral project) this article tries to cover a lot of ground.
  
  
• The shamelessness deserves its own bullet item. The aforementioned article is my first tipoff, (not very ingenious, since it was slashdotted) to <moreshamelesslinkpimping>SepiaMutiny</moreshamelesslinkpimping>
  
  
• Putting together that set of Kung Fu Hustle pics was a lot of fun. Especially these four screengrabs... It's just too fucking bad that Stephen Chow wants to act like Sheng Yi Huang's sugardaddy in this publicity still :-(
  
  [oye, ask yourself before launching into any tirade, haven't you ever google'd for someone before?]
  
  
• CSSZenGarden: WOW! Adam's Life: Henh.
  
  
• Chatted on msn with a friend this evening. He sent me a poem he'd composed, after a while. Go here to read it. It made me realize we're both/all thinking after Heidegger, in a way...