Avaricious

Avaricious #

13 January 1999

No, not condolence cards, that wasn’t what I was thinking of you cruel people! Tsk.

Yet more evidence of the ever-decreasing size of the world - I see that Grinder has gotten engaged to his American girlfriend. Hearty congratulations to them both.

I’m rapidly noticing the loose rules and social protocols that apply to the cute palmtop on which I’m writing this. Despite being quieter and less obtrusive than a mobile phone, it seems they are nonetheless less welcome in public. I feel guilty using it at work, and get strange looks when I take it out in public (so no change there then!). Which leaves me with the option of using it in the car (um…) or whilst holed up at home, which sort of defeats the whole purpose. This is obviously a minor embarrassment that I’m simply going to have to get over.

I don’t seem to have mentioned music for a while, so:

Music.

There. Seriously, though, I’ve resorted to building up my back-cat collection, partly through disillusionment with much of the current music scene, but mostly through laziness and nostalgia. The Lennon anthology is a joy to behold, both visually (excellent packaging) and audibly (you know the songs, but not necessarily these versions). Other recent imports include some Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran (may God forgive me), the best of Talk Talk (superb), and the vastly underrated Up album from R.E.M. I know that this list seems to suggest that I’m out of touch with current trends, but I’d like to believe I’m merely consolidating on my current collection, before the next golden era of unmissable pop comes along.

Favourite albums of 1998 (yeah, I’m late, so sue me):

  • Catatonia - International Velvet
  • Delgados - Peloton
  • Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
  • Arab Strap - Philophobia
  • Manic Street Preachers - This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours
  • Hole - Celebrity Skin
  • R.E.M. - Up

21:28

I started reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It’s a huge behemoth of a book. I’m now on page 79, and although I have absolutely no idea what the plot is, many of the sentences are pretty impressive!

Thought: it’s not every day that you can call somebody avaricious and have it accepted as a compliment. Or perhaps it is; I must confess that I’ve never tried it before.