I get by

I went to see Hal after work today. Hal's a cool guy who I shared a flat with for 3 years. He moved out when he moved in with his girlfriend and their child. They are now married and the child (Alex) is 5, with a younger brother(Cameron). I feel somewhat old.

Tomorrow myself, Erin, Hal and Phil go to see Two Towers, which will be nice, as I see Hal too infrequently (not to mention his pretty and smart wife, Phil). This evening he handed over a present of some kind (in my bag, waiting for Erin to return from a film screening) and I wandered down to the kid's school to collect Alex with him. It was just plain nice hanging out with them. The kids are cool and it's a useful reminded that (a) I like kids and (b) I never, ever want to have my own.

I then wandered home and had dinner, pausing only to explain to the mortgage people that I don't want a 10 year mortgage, I want a 25 year mortgage fixed for 10 years. Just as I was finishing up (Erin's not about, so I get to have sausages and waffles), Joe phones. Apparently a LJ friend in Edinburgh was having a party. He went, but the buzzer didn't work and throwing stones did no good at all. So he phoned me, came round and chatted.

Interlude - Joe's had problems. These problems have caused a fair bit of gried and alienation with people in Stirling because Joe's problems were anger and stress related. Joe's getting help and seems a hell of a lot better. When Erin last visited she was amazed at the difference and how friendly and nice he was. I sometimes forget that she never knew Joe a few years ago and therefore doesn't realise that the 'natural' Joe is nice and friendly. Anyway, he's doing a lot better now.

We chatted about gaming, friends, work and life in general and had a nice relaxed evening before he headed off for the last train. Hugh's away, so I promised him I'd check out his house and make sure it hadn't been stolen. So I walked Joe up to the junction near there and pointed him in the right direction. Then I realised that Joe doesn't know Edinburgh, so I walked him to the station, then caught a bus back to Hugh's place, noted that it was still there even if the plumber doesn't have the bath in yet, and wandered back home again.

It's nice to spend time with friends. I must work on doing more of that.

(no subject)

Gosh, at least 6 of those could be me.

Aah, but are they electric?

Two new friends online:
Guy, also known as PurelySkinDeep, recently housebound after breaking one heel and one ankle. I've known Guy for 7-odd years. Guy likes to think he's a big tough industrial fan, but secretly loves early Bowie.
Kirsty, who I had a crush on back in 1993(ish), now online under the highly obfuscated name of kpollock. She's got a scary exterior which hides a heart of scariness.

W00t

I just finished watching Fellowship - Extended version. Two and a quarter hours until I go see Two Towers. I feel.... excited.

I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Cheers to birdofparadox for this link.

I really don't want to be sharing a planet with people who think like that. I mean, yes, it's a shame when people have abortions, but they're a necessary evil because the alternative causes much more misery and death.

All you American people, move to Edinburgh, where we're marginally more sensible!

I don't believe in people

Well, on one level I believe in people. But on another level, what I believe in is very complex combinations of different chemicals that react in a variety of ways to the stimuli around them.

I certainly don't believe in any kind of 'inner essence' that makes a person what they are, nor any kind of spirit (ahem - bearing in mind that I'm still hedging my bets on psi, I still wouldn't count that as any more 'you' than the other bits). This means that I don't think of people as embodying anything in particular. A person is not "a loser" or "cool" or "mean" or "kind-hearted". People perform acts and they have higher/lower likelihoods of performing particular acts in the future. They are fluid, self-contradictory (which, once you discount any central 'self', seems perfectly reasonable). Over time, different parts of the different impulses in them come to the fore, these impulsed being governed by their past, current external stimuli, current chemical makeup, etc.

This, I know, makes me far more forgiving of people than others who believe that a person is evil or annoying or stupid or some other negative attribute. I see people as performing acts which are evil, annoying, stupid, etc. (bearing in mind that those are perceptions too, but for the purpouses of this I can happily leave that to one side).

I know that my refusal to damn someone eternally for having performed acts that I agree are wrong has caused problems with friends in the past, and it undoubtably will do so again in the future. And I understand the problem they have with me. But I can't see the world as being some kind of collection of embodiements of platonic ideals rather than a shifting storm of mutable patterns, and so I can't damn a pattern for being one way at one moment when it may be something quite different the next.