Saturday 18 February 2006

Pic of the day: Beautiful, bright, cold road.

Snowchild

I am no longer sleepy at midnight. I guess that means my brain has finally adjusted to the new environment. Unfortunately it also means that my sleep patterns are now gradually becoming chaotic again. Unhinged, to use a more emotionally loaded word. I was up till two in the night, playing two Sims at university (where they don't require much attention) and catching up on my journal. I got up around the usual time, but later slept a couple hours after noon.

I took a walk to Prix, the local supermarket, not quite 10 minutes walk from my Fortress of Solitude. I guess it could have been healthier to take an hour's walk to the shop at Hortemo, but the supermarket is cheaper. It also has a better selection, but I don't need that usually. I am not a culinary expert. Most of what I buy is fruit yogurt, now mainly in half-liter boxes, which are cheaper than the small cups, although cloud-berry is only available in small boxes.

***

After I came home, I noticed a neighbor child coming out to play in the snow. I would guess it was a girl, judging from the long hair, but you never know these days. I certainly thought girls were more social than this, though. She spent hours playing alone in the snow, shaping forms and playing with some simple toy. Judging from the amount of snow that had been moved and reshaped around their house, she has probably done this before too. It intrigued me. I thought I was the only child who used to spend hours alone outdoors. I thought perhaps that had been a prelude to me becoming who I am today. Evidently I am not so unique after all. Either that, or we both are.

Luckily (and I am sure this will particularly comfort the neighbors if they ever read this) I did not spend all that time just watching the child. I was also reading my way through Supreme – the Return after having recently finished Supreme – the Story of the Year. These collected limited series written by Alan Moore are among my favorite comic books. Less original than Watchmen for sure, they are basically a rewrite of the Superman mythos with a lot of friendly homage. Moore tries to concentrate on the archetypes, and doing a limited length series means he does not need to pad it, but can tell the story he wants.

These comic books were among those I knew I would re-read some day. I still have two large crates of comics, and I do not think that I will keep even them in the long run. I am still carrying a plastic bag of comics to the used-book store each workday, unless it rains or snows too heavily. I am almost at the end of those I have packed, but I suspect that at a later time there will go more, perhaps many more. And also lots of the manga, certainly the mass-market stuff like Ranma ½ and Dragonball.

***

I guess in a way I am still a child playing alone in the snow, building an ever more elaborate arctic Fortress of Solitude. I am not sure that really makes me into a Superman, though. Although perhaps other things do. ^_^ As you know, I think we can all become supermen. And I think playing alone in the snow is an excellent start. We may even need, to use a Biblical metaphor, forty years in the desert. But if we never leave the desert, we will never get to the promised land. And if Superman never leaves his arctic fortress, the world gains nothing.