Fascination Street.

Hang on, just one second.. Need to figure out which Anna Nalick song it is that I like.  Breathe. Now to go over FM's preferred tracks.  Right, done. Where was I? Oh yes. Blog. Right. Hello.

I am back. 6C. Oh yes. It is magic. I've had dojos, I've had kopparberg, I've had a movie. I disagreed with the movie on several animal-related points. I get tetchy about animals in films and stories in general ok? Like, seriously though. 

Hmm. What's your most played song on iTunes [slash whatever type of sound making programme you use]? Answer. Go go! 

Mine is Memorize the City - The Organ [played 171, no, 172 times], closely followed by Josh with Blue and Black. And then Synthetics. 

there are 12 songs that I have played 100 or more times. I wonder if my last fm thingamy agrees with this. Hm. Quite some discrepancies. But I guess they do use different thresholds for 'played'. 

Aaanyway. No one likes my music chat. 

It's funny to be back. My room looked so blank and.. spacious... It'll be a mess in no time. ^_^

The prompt I saw today is 'name a book that opened your eyes or changed your mind'. I haven't really considered it, so I'm gonna answer it off the bat. Or the bookshelf? 

In chronological order, because you should know by now that I hardly ever choose one thing:

• The Just So Stories
• The Tao Of Pooh
• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
• A Brave New World

Now, I can't really be sure if I've got hitchhikers and tao the right way round because I think I read them in pretty close proximity age wise. Here's an explanation for each one...

Just So: I didn't even read this for myself the first time. It was read to me. And I never forgot it. I especially liked The Cat That Walked By Himself. It had a really good description of meat at some point. And the cat was clever as. This is probably why I regard cats with such suspicion. The other stories all hold something for me as well. I liked their alternative way of explaining things, it felt historical when younger, upon re-reading it just feels refreshing and for some reason, it fills me with hope. I'm a lame-ass. I know. 

Tao: I picked this up when I was helping my dad in the shop that he helped out in on weekends. He may have been dating the owner. I'm not sure. I never really figured that out. It was a 'hippy shop'. Crystals, tarot cards, reflexology charts, aromatherapy oils.. etc. That's when I learnt to use a till. I have since forgotten. Anyway, I was there, and I was drawn to this book on the bottom shelf which had Winnie-the-Pooh on it. - Of course I was, I was only about 10. I started reading it, there on the shop floor, beside the crystals [I liked the crystals and stones]. I think I got through a fair bit of it, but my dad bought it for me so I could read the rest straightaway. I think he might have been trying to encourage this line of alternative thinking, or at least keep me placated for helping in the shop. So I read it. In hindsight I kind of wonder how on earth I understood it. But then I remember that when I was that age I read anything and everything and seemed to have a level of maturity long since laid aside. I loved it. It made so much sense. And I like to think that some of that sense has remained residually. I know that the stories contained within the book have. I remind myself of the story of the woodcutter and the man in the river whenever I feel like I need grounding and some relativity.  [The pages of the book are yellowing round the edges now.. and just looking at the book makes me feel safe..]

Hitchhikers: I always remember that I was very aware of this book. It was the thickest book I'd ever paid attention to. [I should perhaps mention I'm referring to the trilogy in four parts]. It was blue, like a bathroom, and had a picture of a spaceship on the front. It had no spine to speak of because it had been read so many times before I could even contemplate reading it. Anyway. I was on holiday with my dad and brother, and my brother had finished reading it, so he gave it to me and said 'read it' with that older brother air of not really thinking that your kid sister would. But I did. I had read the entire thing in a few days, being very careful so that the pages didn't fall out. Brother didn't believe me.. but I recounted the plot to him. Now I know that a good chunk of the humour went over my head at that age [again, about 10]. But I think the bits I find funniest now are those I picked up on when I first read it.. McDonalds, tea, cricket.. and so on. I loved the words and the voice that was reading it in my head.. It said things in a different way, it was a new kind of funny.. Brother has kidnapped that copy, and the spine is now severely duct-taped, with "Hitchhiker's" scrawled on it in my brother's handwriting. I smile when I catch a glimpse of it.. 

Brave: I guess this is the only book that I read as an 'adult' [ie.. 14/15?] that changed anything. It started off with 1984 actually. I had wondered what the fuss was about, and decided that I should really get clued up. So I read 1984. Then my mother forced this on me, and told me that I 'must read it'. So I did. And it blew my mind. I'm not really sure why.. but the ideas in it seemed more.. attractive? possible? I don't know.. And as this was my teenage time, the ending amazed me. Like, not the substance, but the words used. And the way it was done. Again, this was clever, and I wanted to be able to emulate it whenever I wrote. I fail every time, clearly. But still. 

There are many other books.. And I'm sure I will mention some of them tomorrow. But these were the ones that jumped to the front of the queue when I thought about the question. 

And damn, I want to be able to write something decent. And to create a book that changes someone or something. 

I should go to bed.. 18 hours awake at this point.. 

~over and epilogue.