Hold me

I've just been reading a compilation of short comics written by Neil Gaiman entitled "Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days", and one of the pieces that really stood out for me was the Constantine story. Now, I tend to enjoy Constantine irrespective of who writes it, but this was particularly fine. It follows a tramp who dies one cold spring and who's spirit is exorcised by John... Not by accident, but just as a "well, I'm here and this is what I do" kind of thing. It is short and bittersweet and for once (probably due to it's brevity) lets Constantine come out looking like a proper hero.

Anyway, it ends with John thinking to himself and summing up the exorcism in a suitably dark way:

"All he wanted.

All he wanted was for someone to care about him. Someone to hold him. Someone to warm him.

Nobody would.

When we hold each other, in The Darkness, it doesn't make The Darkness go away. The bad things are still out there, the nightmares are still walking.

When we hold each other, we feel... Not safe, but better. 'It's all right' we whisper 'I'm here. I love you.' And we lie 'I'll never leave you.'

For just a moment or two The Darkness doesn't seem so bad. When we hold each other."

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I don't know what anything means anymore...

Logical fallacy

I am old enough to have an original paper driving license from back in the days when a police man/ bouncer/ governmental bureaucrat would take your word for it that, well, you were you. On a trip to the states where I was routinely ID'd when we went to the bars (I blame my cheerful girlish features) I realised it might not be a bad idea to have a piece of photo ID to wave at over-zealous bar-staff/ police-persons/ Big Brother. To this end I picked up a form from the post office to get procure a photo driving license.

Now, I'm entirely against the idea of ID cards, per se, the notion that not having one would a criminal offence is just a bit too "lol 1984" for my tastes. But, if you want to get some state-approved piece of photo-based ID (which although maybe optional, would suffice to gain you sweet, sweet alcohol), then I think you should go for it. Maybe not one that requires Iris scans or finger-prints or DNA markers, but sure a photo ID is handy sometimes.

I diligently filled in the form, got photo's of myself ("Why do you always have to look like a serial killer in your photo's?", my partner laments) and then stumbled at the point of proving my identity. Now my main annoyance with the ID card scheme proposed recently was that they would do away with all these easily forged Identity documents, but to prove you were who you claimed to be, you had to produce said documents to a governmental deptartment. Now, I suspect you can see the nub of the problem here. If these documents (current passports, birth certificates, non-photo driving licenses etc. etc.) are not secure enough, how can I in all good conscience claim to be me? And then how could I have the gall to use these potentially forged documents to gain a super-duper forgery-proof ID card?

Now, with this in mind I think you'll like the way that DVLA get around this. If you don't want to send them your passport you can pick the other route. You can get a person (who has known you for the requisite length of time) to promise that you are who you say you are. Thats all. Just one person who claims to know you, and will promise that you are not lying.

Now given that a photo driving license is probably the piece of ID that most people would use if they were challenged by a police officer, do you see how it could be possible to not be who you claim to be and escape potential legal issues?

I dare say (or at least hope) that there is a loop-hole to my infallible logical. Perhaps the DVLA is smarter than I give them credit for?

image from claudio-gonzalez's photostream

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Pounding vocals

If you don't have any Okkervil River, you need to get some. Seriously. Because there is something in so desperate in Will Shef's voice, something that makes you feel like dropping to your knees on a rainy street and just screaming to someone who will never listen, so you can have one last chance to tell them how you feel. It's the kind of passion that makes you tear up, but not quite lose it, Catharsis in audio form.

Hobos are the new unicorns

nabbed from a recent blog post at You Aint No Picasso, one of the many sites I RSS, 'cause hearing about bands before you makes me feel... Well, just better than you. ^_^

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Talking without words

I've just found a new comic that I really got into, something that doesn't happen very often.

Coming Up For Air

It's quirky and has no text to speak of, but has a charm of its own. Have a read. Tell me if you can figure out what's going on ^_~

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Urgh

How to Quit Smoking when You Don't Really Want to - wikiHow

Urgh. I haven't smoked in two weeks. And then, and then, and then. It's like fate won't give me a break. I've refused oppotunities to spark up, I've made the break and then... A friend gives me a present. A pack of smokes she brought back for me from her hols. Granted she didn't know I'd stopped, but still. Fucking hell, give me a break. Now I have that cellophane wrapped time-bomb ticking in my bedside cabinet, waiting for me to fail. Aaaargh.

photo from philiaC's photostream

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Get back in the box!

Box.net - Free Online File Storage, Internet File Sharing, Online Storage, Access Documents & Files Anywhere, Backup Data, Send Files

One of the reasons I regularly invest in webhosting is for a bit of online storage for files, stuff I want to share with others, et al. Box.net looks like a good way to do this, free-of-charge. Well, free as in beer. Which is good enough for me.

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Wake up and smell the ma.gnolia(s)?

Yuki on ma.gnolia

I found out about this site via Flock, it seems to be like del.icio.us but shinier. And goodness knows I am fan of shiny, web 2.0 sites.

Aside from the shininess, the other advantage this site has over del.icio.us is that it just seems better thought out. The design is a touch more intuitive. Whereas I treated del.icio.us like a repository for bookmarks, ma.gnolia has a more social feel to it, certainly I've used that aspect of it.

So go play, and if nothing else you can just use it as an online repository for bookmarks :P

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Changes

Reinvention is important to me. As a kid I would get bored playing the same game quicker than my friends. As a teen I was never happy going to the same shops as everyone else. This isn't to say I am some kind of trail-blazer, some Hollywood-esque free spirit eternally going against the grain. What it does mean is that I enjoy hunting more than finding, I stay hungry. I don't even know what I'm looking for most of the time. Hopefully this blog is going to be evidence of all of this.

Picture from Agent Retro's Flickr stream

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