There's something wrong with the world today...

...and I do know what it is. I think. Or not. Anyway, new shtuff to tell you about.

(courtesy of hollandsentinel.com)

A) I have become a member of OpenBC, a business contacts network site. A friend invited me and I couldn't think of any sensible reasons why not to join. Turns out there's quite a few people I know already "there", which is nice. Weird is being checked out by people from former customer companies. It gives me the creeps somehow - I dunno, maybe part of being a trainer is to develop a mild form of personal-information-related paranoia. For the life of me, I couldn't think what there might be that someone checking the website could learn about me that I would not want them to know. I have no closet skeletons I'm aware of, and even if I did they wouldn't be online, that's for sure! Why is it then that I almost retired my entry from the website after finding several former customers had checked out my file (within a very short time after going online)? I don't know, but watching my own reactions to this will be reason enough to keep the entry up for a bit. Did that make sense? Not sure...

(courtesy of indiewire.com)

B)I just finished reading Cosmopolis by Don Delillo. I tend to struggle with heavy, "involved" sort of literature, so tried this fairly short volume by the bestselling author of Underworld with some trepidation, mainly because it came recommended by Harald Schmidt, Germany's version of David Letterman, whom I admire rather more than I care to admit. Anyway, in an amateur attempt to describe what I read, the style seems very stream-of-consciousness to me, rich with descriptions of sensory experience and word-by-word transcriptions of thought. For me, this gives a very realistic insight into a character's world view and perception as imagined by the author. As a technique, I really like the approach and admire the author's ability to make me feel involved, close to the action and able to relate to the character. Several times, I came across descriptions of thought processes, reactions to input, etc. that surprised me by being similar to my own reactions or behaviour, though I might have been previously unaware of such behaviour in a situation. Touching on nerves of common, yet mostly subliminal or "instinctive" behaviour that may be surprising to the reader is one of the things I always felt the late Douglas Adams was incredibly good at, so its another "like" for me. Plus, the text is rich with metaphor and symbolism, something I enjoy when it is not overdone. Dislikes would be the graphic descriptions of acts of sexuality, though I accept that, from the author's point of view this might simply be a necessary means of advancing the plot and completing the holistic view of a character's experience. Anyway, if you're looking for a rich, complex and, to some degree, thrilling tale of power, wealth, urban madness and the intricacies of the human condition, here's my thumbs up for Don Delillo's Cosmopolis.

(courtesy of amazon.com)

Just made myself a nice, steaming hot cup of tea. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! I may only be half a Brit, but hunkered over a cozy mug of splosh on a rainy afternoon, I couldn't imagine wanting to be anything other than British. Speaking of my mother country, though - what shocking news about those threats to US flights out of London. I really don't know what to make of the world we live in sometimes and would struggle to judge who's right and who isn't in many of the questions people are fighting over these days, especially regarding the influence Europe and the US have exerted over large parts of the planet and the people living there. However, I refuse to believe that terrorism and violence are the only means available to individuals or groups seeking to change their environment. Therefore, these people's behaviour (and the behaviour of those who incite and back them in planning such deeds) is wrong and morally reprehensible in my book. I was tempted to write something vaguely pathetic about hoping the people involved might come to a realisation of the wrongness of their deeds, but will refrain. Instead, this may sound even cheesier, but let's all work toward a more peaceful world by fighting injustice in our immediate, day-to-day environments. Sorry if this does sound like Hollywood drivel, but for all its schmaltz, I'm a firm believer in thinking global and acting local. Okay, I'll get down off the soap box now so you can have a good laugh at my naivete... Cheerio!