2012 — 30 April: Monday
And so it came to pass... the rain has actually stopped1 and there's a fresh cuppa at hand and a mere one re-boot of the modem/router thingummy required before I'm up and running (not that I tend to run, these days).
Breakfast would probably be a Good Thing.
I (think I) think, and...
... therefore this makes me smile:
According to one theory of human thinking, the brain processes information using two systems. The first relies on mental shortcuts by using intuitive
responses — a gut instinct, if you will — to quickly arrive at a conclusion. The other employs deliberative analysis, which uses reason to
arrive at a conclusion.
Both systems are useful and can run in parallel, the theory goes. But when called upon, analytic thinking can override intuition.
To be "unencumbered by the thought process" is, generally, the easier option. [Pause] Well, it's still not raining, and there's even been the odd shaft of sunlight through the clouds. Pretty windy out there, but the walk should be OK. Is there just time for a cuppa, Mrs Landingham? [Pause] No, there wasn't, until after the next six miles or so. Not too much mud, either, and the sun is still shining. It's 13:17 and I now definitely need some lunch.
I don't know if...
... something was triggered by yesterday's (rejected) New Yorker cover, but when I was idly grazing the bookshelves to find last night's entertainment, this chap sat up and begged to be re-read:
Who was I to argue? It's fascinating on so many levels to consider how much light can be shed on conscious thought processes and neurochemistry by a calm examination of hallucinogens.2 Add in plentiful illustrations from some of the 'classic' Underground comix, and what's not to like?
Thrusting aside the life-long assertion that I spend too much time (far too much time, I expect) reading the "wrong" stuff3 I do unearth the occasional shiny gem among the baubles:
Ain't that the truth! :-)
On today's walk...
... Mike mentioned that he'd recently watched "Moneyball". I'd been keeping an eye half-open for this as I know it was scripted by Aaron Sorkin (who can write very little wrong, as it were) and although sport is very low down the list of my interests I thought it looked promising. So, I took myself off to the video shelves in Asda, and failed to return empty-handed...
The Blu-ray of the ridiculously enjoyable "Good Will Hunting" should save me from having to fight any further with the need to zoom my existing DVD copy to fill the screen. And "New York" will (I hope) prove every bit as entertaining as "Paris, Je t'aime" did. If not, I should be able to have fun just trying to recognise the hordes of people in the cast.
Not many people...
... know this, but the microtome was invented to slice things thinly enough to use to represent my lack of interest in sport. Be that as it may, I've just watched — and very much enjoyed — "Moneyball" while being left with no greater understanding of baseball than a vague feeling that it's pretty much like the rounders I used to play in primary school. As my myopia went both unrecognised and uncorrected until well into secondary school, it's fair to say that high-speed little balls and I did not get on at all well together.