Wednesday, December 5, 2001
On a whim, I took off work today. I have several vacation days left to take anyway. I really enjoyed myself, particularly with the seventy-degree weather. I replaced some of the Christmas lights in my garden, and ripped several CDs to mp3. I read several more chapters of Every Man’s Battle — great book, by the way — then had a wonderful lunch with my Mom (in the gazebo!), followedy by an hours-long chat with her about all sorts […]
Tuesday, December 4, 2001
Here’s some free writing advice: “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” — Alexander Solzhenitsyn […]
Monday, December 3, 2001
I keep a wary eye on the greasy fat man. He grunts something I can’t hear as he grabs the metal bar sticking out of the vat of boiling tar. He prods the inside of the tar barrel like a primitive villager skewers a dead pig, over and over. Beads of sweat roll down his temples. Suddenly he spins, the tar-covered metal bar still in his hand. I’m now glad for my wariness; I skitter out of the way […]
Sunday, December 2, 2001
I’m sitting alone in my darkened bedroom, which is faintly illumined in the antiseptic, artificial glow of two monitors. This is like hospital lighting, only dimmer. I’ve spent the weekend productively. Saturday morning was spent at the Common Grounds coffee house, discussing Pilgrim’s Progress with my book club and playing a spontaneous game of chess on the weathered chessboard that sat between us. It re-kindled my interest in the game, and as a result I spent […]
Friday, November 30, 2001
Being on a schedule has its drawbacks. Even its advantages have drawbacks. Case in point: I normally reserve Friday nights for writing. Up until now, I’ve only been writing Points of View reviews on Friday, but recently, I’ve had the urge to write some fiction. Any sort of fiction. Not the Great American Novel; just something entertaining. As you can imagine, I’ve been mentally building myself up […]
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
“No rest for the Sipple….” For some reason, that phrase tickles me. I’m tuckered out right now, but I expect that. I went to Men’s Academy this morning (I wish they had a website), and its 6:30 a.m. starting time has taken its toll. Even so, I’m glad I went, as John’s message about wisdom was worth hearing. I got through the workday, though, and managed to drag myself home. […]
Monday, November 26, 2001
Well. It’s time for me to start becoming me. By that, I mean that I have a pretty high standard for myself, and I haven’t been living up to it. The problem is that, while I know which habits I’d like to have, once I start following those habits, I quickly fool myself into thinking that I’m totally faithful to those habits. I begin to slack off, because in my mind, I’m still faithful. So. […]
Saturday, November 24, 2001
Quickly, before the street-sweeper of the mind, sleep, claims me: I decorated my office for Christmas this morning. A (false) pine garland runs around the rim of the cubicle, festooned with fairy lights, which also climb the archway which serves as the entrance to our little space. It looks very cool. I also watched the first two episodes of Nadia and the Secret of the Blue Water, which fulfilled my expectations. It’s a wonderful, Miyazaki-like series, though it […]
Friday, November 23, 2001
I had the day off of work today, so my Mom and I went shopping. We had great success finding Christmas presents and such things. Particularly, I happened across an anime import store. It contains mostly Hello Kitty merchandise, but they have a wide selection of CD’s, wallscrolls, and models. Most importantly, they’re at American prices; I don’t have to pay USD $35 for a CD. I ended up spending $90 there, on a variety […]
Thursday, November 22, 2001
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Even if you don’t celebrate it, it’s a good idea to stop for a moment and be grateful for…well, everything. Practically everything that we have in life is, in some way, a gift from others. My Thanksgiving was a pleasant one; after I spent the morning ripping Christmas mp3’s (a surprisingly easy job once one gets used to the process), my sister and her family came over for the day. So, […]