Posted By crates on September 23, 2007

For some reason I’ve been putting off writing.  It’s as if I think that anything that I write would be so trivial that there would be no use writing.  But I’ve decided just to write and to let what comes come… Perhaps that’s the way to get past this block.  There are all kinds of things that I’ve been interested in lately, so there’s no dearth of subjects.       I was looking at articles on the Hairy Ainu the other day for example.  And then I became interested in Mandalas, then Sangaka Shinko, and Shugendo and the role of mountains in religion.  This led into the three dimensional mandalas of Japan involving their holy shrines.     And then I started re-recording some old tapes of my father’s parents (1979) when they were reminiscing about their life, and then I was researching which programs were best at recording and manipulating such tapes.   And then I read up on human haplotypes and their use in tracing the migration patterns and relationships between groups of people.    And then I read about how haplotype analysis of one’s own DNA can give us insight into our ancesters which led me into pricing some of the tests.  And all during this time I kept on indexing The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny about which I have become obsessed, which is unusual for me because I never become obsessed, especially when it smacks of fandom.  I have been carrying this big book around with me when I go out for coffee for several years now.  People will ask what I am reading.  When I show them the book, they exclaim, “Are you still reading that?”  I am somehow ashamed to tell them that I read it almost everyday and have been for years.  I’ve lost track of how many time’s I’ve read this compendium of Zelazny’s ten books. I started reading those books back in the eighties at least.   In fact, I’m embarrassed about admitting such a thing here.  Maybe there’s something wrong with me?    Also as part of my campaign in fighting the Battle of the Bulge, I’ve started walking as soon as I get up.    This cuts into my sleep but I figure one must make sacrifices somewhere (ahem).  I even tried jogging part way on the route that I have decided upon.  I found that people in my condition shouldn’t even try such a thing, but I persevere.  I’ve been persevering since last Thursday.  I’ve gained about two pounds since embarking upon this risky endeavor, and I have yet to understand the reason for this.  The neighborhood is ideal for walking and jogging since it involves residential streets through forest in this isolated neighborhood.  One street leads down to

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Amber Chronicles, Uncategorized, Zelazny