(no subject)

Nothing much happening worth relating in the last week or so. Late summer holiday is good in that I have time to do things I normally don't during term-time, like reading and practising guitar. It is quite bad in terms of income: no lessons means no money coming in. In that respect I do need things to go back to normal; I'm burning fast through my emergency funds.

Tonight I met robot_mel and beluosus for coffee and catch up at the Rustique café in Tufnell Park. This was excellent and, as always, those two helped expand my cultural/literary horizons, in some cases by reminding me about stuff I have been interested in but which for various reasons has gone under my radar.

I also have been re-watching Babylon 5, which I only belatedly discovered some three years ago or so thanks to maxvon_d when he was taking guitar lessons with me. It is what science-fiction is when at its best: a study on the big questions but also on ordinary people under extraordinary circumstances. Some of those aliens in the show, like London and G-Kar, are so very human.

I'm also reading 'Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing' (amazon uk link) by Jim Holt. Fascinating little book over one of the biggest Big Questions. Only thing is the author seems to fall much more on the 'god' side of things (hasn't said as much so far as I am in the book, not explicitly, but almost, almost..) which I tend to find quite annoying, but it is a fascinating quest involving lots of people like St Augustine, Leibniz, Heidegger, Weinberg, Deutsche and a cast of thousands. Bound to be unsatisfactory in the end (haven't got there yet) in that he cannot possibly get the answer to his question, but it's as much about the journey as about the destination. Or more, in this case.