Wednesday 18 August 1999
|
Pic of the day: Portrait of a mobile phone. The word in the display
means "searching..."
The other day on that IRC channel, this cool girl quoted a pose from a roleplaying game. (Actually, she called herself chick, but I'm not sure if that is a polite thing to call people one likes.) Anyway, here's a juicy phrase: "It is by choice I do not succumb to mortal emotions so easily." So naturally we went on to talk a bit about emotions, and naturally I have been thinking ... again. About mortal emotions. And why I do not succumb to them so easily.
After thinking a lot about this for a long time, I decided to write
about cell phones instead.
They are "everywhere". When I walk down the main street of Kristiansand, I see people walking and talking to their mobile telephone. Mostly women. I remember the time when women scoffed at the guy toys, mobile phones. Anyway, there they are. And on the bus home from job, with fancy melodies playing while they rummage through their bags desperately. I don't know who they talk to ... my best bet would be "each other". I think the need to communicate is a basic human need. Or "mortal emotion" as the saying goes. I mean, isn't that the main reason why I'm writing this in the first place? It's not like I get paid for it or anything. See? I have mortal emotions too. They are only a bit non-standard. People are not just keeping cell phones everywhere. People are also staying on-line a lot. I hear that ordinary workers get literally dozens of e-mails each day, many of them at work. And it just grows. And then there's this Internet chat thing, IRC, which I am testing out now. People hang out there for hours and hours. Perhaps it is a need to be a part of something greater than oneself. Perhaps we feel a need for that - to counteract our mortality. I'm not sure if it works, but perhaps it does. Perhaps something will live after we are gone, except for the children of those who have those. But if I fail to procreate and fail to communicate, there's precious little left.
Just in case, I'm bringing my mobile phone with me. I think those
who need to know, have the number already. If not, e-mail me. If
I am alive and online, I will try to reply by Saturday. Of course,
by then I should be home...
I'm sitting in town now waiting for the train. If all goes well, I am to spend nearly two days in Oslo training for my instructor job, and I hope to be back late Friday evening. As usual, burglary should not be attempted unless you are a true professional, since the house is not empty. |
Last night I tried in vain to get through to crosswinds net where my archives are. I managed to upload a few more today, but not as many as I had hoped. |