What About Slattery?

Mood: Recalcitrant.

Listening to: Many a good thing. None of which spring to mind.

I've been listening to the sound of a babbling brook (urinals), the plaintive cry of an infant (specialist podcast) and the groaning and cracking of the Giant Sequoia (urinals).

Also: Billy Hawks - (Oh Baby) I Do Believe I'm Losing You



Reading: Noam Chomsky.

Not any of his writing, just those words.

"Noam".

and "Chomsky".

There. I just read them again.

And the word "and".

It's been quite the adventure.

What kind of name is Noam anyway?

(What kind of name is Noam anyway? was the original version of the Clive Anderson improvised comedy show. It only lasted a few episodes before people realised the format was quite limited. John Sessions objected to the decision, but got jabbed by Richard Vranch until he backed down.)

I mean, "Noam"? That's not a commonly found word in my life, and is therefore strange and wrong.

According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia:

Noam (נועם) is a Hebrew name which means "pleasantness" (male version of the female No'omi — English: "Naomi" or "Noemi").

Isn't that interesting? The male version of Naomi. I probably could have worked that out if I had thought to think.

But I didn't think.

"Pleasantness" is a bit wishy-washy for a name. If I was called Pleasantness, I'd probably have to become a linguist and make controversial political statements. It would be my only way out.

(Interestingly, the Blogger spell-check thinks that "washy" is a word, but "wishy" is not. I suppose people must use the word "washy" more frequently. As in the sentence "When combined with soap, liquid stranger can be quite washy.")

Watching: Greek Myths: Tales of Travelling Heroes

A very interesting documentary fronted by the brilliant, geeky, slightly awkward Robin Lane Fox. He travels around a bit and explains about God-sperm and giants and all that other cool stuff. And makes other people feel slightly uncomfortable.

Flaying: I haven't been flaying.

Playing: The role of The Skin Thief. In a fictional play that has no connection to any actual events and so you can't do me for it.

Eating: A substandard muffin. They used to be really good, back in the day. But I suppose everything has to change. It's like the seasons: good muffin, bad muffin; sunrise, sunset; tide in, tide out, tide sideways.

Tideways.

Pete Seeger was right.

Drinking: Water, which I refer to as "nature's Nesquick" (especially when it's powdered and brown).

I also refer to it as "see-through wettener", "liquid window" and "The Ambiguous Stranger".

(Urinals)

***

Oh well. Back to the daily grind.

And by "daily" I mean "four times a week".

And it's less of a grind, and more of a light rubbing.

...

I'm writing this from prison.