Obdormio.com

Inspired by similar efforts, I have put together a short quiz. Ten questions on some of the works I consider formative of my tastes, some well-known, others … less so. Basically, it measures if you are secretly me.

Do have a go, shouldn’t take you long: Are You my Kind of Geek?

1. d4 d5
2. c4 Nc6
3. Nc3 dxc4
4. Nf3 f6
5. Bf4 g5
6. Bg3 h5
7. e3 Be6
8. Nb5 Rc8
9. b3 h4
10. Bxc7 Rxc7
11. Nxc7+ Qxc7
12. e4 Bg4
13. d5 Bxf3?!
14. Qxf3 Qa5+
15. Kd1 Nd4
16. Qe3 e5
17. Bxc4 Bc5
18. a4 Qb4
19. g3 a6
20. gxh4 Rxh4
21. d6 Bxd6
22. Bxg8 b5
23. h3 Rh8
24. Bd5 Bc5
25. Bb7?? Nxb3
26. Qe2 Nxa1
27. Bxa6 Qxa4+
28. Ke1 Qxa6
29. Kf1 Ke7
30. Kg2 Nb3
31. Rb1 Nd4
32. Qd1 Qa3
33. Ra1 Qxh3+
34. Kg1 Qh1#
0-1

Congratulate Loki on his victory!

Don’t mock too loud, please.

We did magic, in kindergarten. There’s no two ways about it. Oh, we didn’t say that we did, there was no system, no thought-out rituals or organised worship of strange deities or devils, but there was magic. Step on the wrong log, and you were cursed to die. Slit your thumb on the sharp rock, and you were safe. Dance in puddles to make it rain, sing songs to make the sun come out. If that’s not magical thinking, then I’ve misunderstood the concept. So, under the guidance of the Magi, the ones blessed with both active imaginations and a penchant for leadership, we did magic.

I never believed in Santa Claus, and I’ve never known anyone who did, but we knew, knew, that there were trolls in the mountains and elves¹ in the forest. Examining the mountains across the fjord through playground binoculars, we could see the trolls’ caves. And as for the elves, well, one of them would show up at least twice a year! A very pedagogically minded elf, he taught us not to litter in the forest. We knew, of course, that it was one of the minders dressed up with a wig and a fake tail, but it was also an elf. Both were there at the same time, the elf temporarily inhabiting the minder, who took the role of the shaman channelling the spirit world. There were elves.

And then, one day, there weren’t. It was just a minder in a wig. The log was a log like any other, and dancing in puddles only got your feet wet.

I suppose this is something that has to happen, but I miss the magic world, though by now I hardly even remember it. I think, perhaps, my love of speculative fiction comes from the search for those occasional books which, for a brief time, can put me back in that world. And oh, how I long to capture it on paper myself.

^{1 – “elves” is an imprecise translation. Don’t go thinking Tolkien or Tinkerbell. In Norwegian, we might call them subterraneans, and they’re not so distant from the trolls as all that.}

So, I’m sitting here, working on revising one of my papers for this semester. At least, that is what I am supposed to be doing. I am finding it hard to focus and am thoroughly tired of the topic at hand, so what I’m actually doing is randomly surf the web, open the window with the paper in it every ten minutes or so, then glare sullenly at it for a minute before going back to surf the web. It is in times like these I really get the drive to do loads of other things, things utterly unrelated to academia, even if they’re equally unpleasant! It is curious how clean and tidy my room gets as a deadline approaches. To forestall being driven towards the vacuum cleaner, I thought I’d try a little venting here instead.

It is a dark and stormy night, and yes, I am typing this with a straight face. The rain has been coming down at least since eleven this morning. I know this, as I found myself down town at the time, hearing the unexpected news that the bus drivers were on strike, and got good and wet on the walk home. The wind has been going for at least as long, making it impossible for me to keep the window open, resulting in a very stale air in here. Understand, this is Bergen. Wind and rain are not unusual, they are the norm. I usually enjoy good, stormy weather, as long as I’m not outside in it. Rain hammering against the window, wind howling past the wall, it is delicious. It is good weather for sitting inside with a book. Or a screen, as is more often the case these days.

And that brings me to the topic I actually had in mind when I started this: reading. I read a lot less than I used to these days, and I think that’s a shame. I got though a few this summer, but it has since died down again. I like to think it is a matter of just not having time, but the truth of it is that I could probably easily find the time if I just tried. Indolence and lethargy are both seductive and addictive, but hopefully I will eventually kick the habit.

For the past month, I have been flirting with another possible addiction, audiobooks. Fitting neatly into the times when I am doing other things, like making dinner or walking to the bus, they are seemingly the solution for this time issue. After first getting hooked by The Prestige through iTunes, I have now signed up with Audible (yeah, yeah, I know, evil DRMs and dead kittens. Show me an alternative, and I’ll jump at it). I’ll probably close the account once the introductory discount ends, though, I can’t really afford regular audiobook purchases.

Which leaves me the good, old-fashioned dead trees. There is a rather large pile of textbooks lying here, which should be ploughed through, but the going will be slow, if past experience is anything to go by. There is also a pile of books I’d rather like to start chewing through, but cannot in good conscience get started on before the stuff I’ll actually be tested on is done with.

These are metaphorical piles, though the state of my shelves will soon necessitate the forming of real ones, but I can have a look at which books I currently have plans to read someday through my LibraryThing account. I cannot talk that service up enough, by the way.

I currently have 28 books tagged with “to be read.” I might have forgotten to tag some, of course, but I’m going to proceed under the assumption that these are it for the moment. It is not a unmanageable number. I hear of people with hundred of books in such piles, and I dread becoming one myself as some of these have already been waiting years. I’m sure some will soon be added as well, like The Graveyard Book, and The Temporal Void. It is taking much restraint to keep from buying the large edition of The Temporal Void, but my desire for consistency in the shelves will prevail.

I am very much looking forwards to Misspent Youth, since Hamilton has yet to disappoint me. I’m also really salivating over the Holy Writ-books I got last year, but still have not read. I got books with texts from Shinto mythology, the Tao Te Ching, the Book of the Dead and stories of the Dreamtime, all of which sound so fascinating I can hardly understand why I haven’t thrown myself over them yet.

Come the end of exam season, I might get the frenzy bug again, like I did at the beginning of summer. Till then, I’ll stick with the audio books. I have a new Audible credit coming up in just over a week, and I’m pondering using it on Dune. Not sure, though, suggestions appreciated.

Writing this took far longer than I anticipated. I must return to the sullen staring. It’ll probably be OK, my invented schedule gives me the weekend to fix it. I’ll get started right away.

Right after I get something to eat.

Hi, obdormio.

Stephen Fry (stephenfry) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out Stephen Fry’s profile here:

http://twitter.com/stephenfry

Best,
Twitter

Stephen Fry is following 3,546 people, almost as many as follow him, so the chances of him reading any of my updates are nil, but even so, this put a good fright in me this morning.

It’s been two weeks, so I guess it’s time to face it: Uru is gone, for now at least (hope springs eternal…). I don’t really have time for extended mourning due to imminent exams, but I finally took the time to hang up the Journey Cloth I bought before Christmas. If I can’t have the real thing, at least I can have a reminder. Courtesy of my seldom used camera, here are a couple of shots of how it turned out:

My desk, with the Journey Cloth hanging over it. It was actually good to get something on that wall, it’s been a bit bare.

Here’s a close-up of the cloth. It’s very cool, just the way you’d imagine they would look if the game were real. The hand print even glows in the dark, but it can sadly not be activated by touching it.

For those wanting their own Journey Cloths, look here.

Obdormio says:
“such matters” are all about image quality

Good Sir! – wistfully flying – “My fish is a hooker. Fan-tastic.” says:
and the image quality of my existing pig-image is still better than your nonexisting pig-image

Good Sir! – wistfully flying – “My fish is a hooker. Fan-tastic.” says:
much like 1>0 even though it’s clearly inferior to all other numbers

Obdormio says:
my exisiting pig image is why you even have a pig image!

Good Sir! – wistfully flying – “My fish is a hooker. Fan-tastic.” says:
finder’s keepers, Abooboo.