Saturday 14 July 2001

Pic of the day: "All I know about dating, I learned from The Sims."

More dubious e-books

I'll have to watch my right wrist. Indeed, the whole hand. It hurts almost every time I use it now again, but only a low murring pain. And I can still sleep fine at night, I only wake up with a vague prickling feeling of almost numbness in the hand. I know that I have to watch it now.

It's worst when I type at work, a bit better when I type at home, and a bit better again when I mouse with the new mouse. But all of them are worse than nothing. It's just that I can't stand doing nothing when I could do something.

I have a novel to write (or rather start writing - I never finish them). The 'voices in my head', creative juices or muses or whatever, are reluctant to tell more in any detail until I have written down what is already there. I can certainly understand that. Now, it's not exactly Tolkien level High Fantasy, but it's better than some I have read. It is better than some I have paid for, actually.

***

Speaking of stuff I have paid for, I've finished the first E-book I bought, Silverberg's Son of Man. It continued to read like Pilgrim's Progress on acid until the very end. If you liked Pilgrim's Progress and acid, the book is warmly recommended. Otherwise ... well, it is certainly a break from the mould, if you really need that. (And for you law enforcement officers out there, I've not actually used LSD. No need to come and arrest me and take my computer.)

As for stuff I haven't paid for, I finished the free e-book by K.A. Applegate, Remnants: The Mayflower Project. It's not boring, though it is sometimes clear that she thinks she is writing for younger readers so she doesn't have to make the characters realistic. There are quite a few cardboard people, though in all honesty this is not such a big loss when you kill off all of humanity except a few kids. In fact, my strongest objection is the careless way in which she kills off people. It isn't really necessary, you know. Fleeing to a faraway solar system with no return ticket makes the fate of the rest of the world really irrelevant, so it's kind of over the top to kill them all off spectacularly first. I felt pretty bad after reading it. Not recommended for young readers. Her Animorph series is more friendly, though it is certainly not Pollyanna either.

And finally, to the next book. I've bought an e-book from Barnes & Noble again, but this time presumably non-fiction. Presumably. It's called The buzz on Sex, Dating and Relationships.

You have to admit that sounds like an ideal title for an e-book. It's not something you need to have in your bookshelf for generations to come. As a matter of fact, you probably don't want to read it on the bus if people can see the cover. They could jump to the wrong conclusions. Or worse, they could jump to the right conclusions ... (Of course, in the US people would jump to conclusions as soon as they saw you enter a bus ... according to Lady Chaos, only weirdos take the bus over there. I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make for me.)

***

Anyway, I have a pretty good idea about sex already, even though I am practically a virgin. (I guess it depends on whether you use St John's definition or Bill Clinton's.) But it's not hard to learn about sex. Now, dating is a complete mystery to me. I don't think it is very common here in Norway. People just meet at school or work or church (for those few who lean that way) and then things kind of develop from there. Or if they are godless heathens and not very cautious either, they may go to a bar and drink until anything of approximately the right gender is good enough. I understand this is another American custom for the lower classes; we have even imported the name for it: "One night stand". When I grew up, people went to dance parties instead. I think some still do, if they need a quick fix. Satisfaction not guaranteed, though. And it's oh so sinful. I can guarantee God doesn't like it.

Dating sounds really fascinating. I understand that the urban middle class here has taken up the habit too, to some extent. I'm really excited to find out what's so great about dating. Not that I'm going to try it out. It's solely for my curiosity, and possibly for use in my novels. I'll report back when I've read it, if nothing happens in the meantime.

And relationships, what's the big deal with that? Wives are just like mothers, only closer to your own age. They'll nag you to wash the dishes and take out the trash and cut your hair and get a real job. But unlike mothers, they are sexy. Therefore, all men who don't have other hobbies should have at least one. I have other hobbies, obviously. And yes, I am going to cut my hair really soon now. It's just my favorite length, which means that the women think it's too long. It will give the signal itself, though: One day it will stand up and refuse to lie down, no matter what I do. (Still talking about the hair here.)

And now, to my pocket PC!