Friday, December 9, 2011 Lethbridge

5:00 am

The temperature is -4° C, with a high predicted of -1° C. From the Environment Canada website: Today Clearing this morning. Wind southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50. High minus 1. Tonight Clear. Wind southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 becoming west 50 gusting to 70 late this evening. Temperature rising to plus 2 by morning. Normals Max: 0°C Min: -11°

5:10 am Morning Musings

Where am I? This morning.

Model Trains: Excellent shape. The operating manual that I prepared over the last few weeks is working well. I am now running trains effortlessly with 10 trains sharing the tracks over a 24 hour timetable period. I am now waiting for some switch stands to arrive and have begun work on a large Lethbridge-style viaduct (which will fit into a space on my layout).

Geocaching: Now on hold. With winter driving conditions I am reluctant to venture too far down secondary roads in case I find myself bogged down.

Literature: This is where I really am at the moment. Late last night I decided to begin rereading Murakami's "1Q84". Why? I am thoroughly enjoying it and it is an incredibly good yarn. Easy to follow and the language just flows. But there are simply too many good sentences - sentences that I respond to as if Murakami is a kindred spirit.

I am not yellow highlighting the sentences, but I did begin making a light pencil mark in the margin when I saw something I liked. These are usually sentences that are similar to perspectives that I share with the author. Other times they are sentences about life that I tend to agree with. I don't want to lose these.

Science: I have read a couple of good books on microbiology. I want to keep this up.

History: Same here. I also have a few good biographies that I want to read.

Photography: This can blend with my interest in model trains. But I also want to extend my interest in both scenery and in the technical aspects of the hobby.

Birds: This is another hobby that I really enjoy. I want to extend my photographic skills here with the possible use of a teleconverter lens.

Mathematics: The interest in symmetry remains strong, but I am having difficulty making time for this at the moment.

5:40 am Literature

Here are some sentences from the first few chapters of "1Q84".

• "At the time, no one knew what was coming. Listening to Jancek's music, Aomame imagined the carefree winds sweeping across the plains of Bohemia and thought about the vicissitudes of history." [p. 3]
  • This is referring to the time between the two world wars. But it also resonates with the present.
• "And after you do something like that, the everyday look of things might seem to change a little. Things may look different to you than they did before. I've had that experience myself. But don't let appearances fool you. There's always only one reality." [p. 9]
  • There may be only one reality, but we all experience it differently.
• There is a short paragraph on page 14 that I missed on the first reading. I think, at least at the moment, that this gives the cornerstone about which the novel will revolve. Murakami gives many subtle hints that keep me thinking. This is why I like his writing. It keeps me thinking - both about the story line but also about life and my place in it.
  
  
• "I did read it all the way through - much to my own surprise. ... I even reread some parts of this one." [p. 17]
  • This is exactly what I am doing at the moment! I am sure that Murakami rereads parts of good novels. I wonder if he makes notes like I am doing at the moment.
• "There also has to be that 'special something', an indefinable quality, something I can't quite put my finger on. That's the part of fiction I value more highly than anything else. Stuff I understand perfectly doesn't interest me." [p. 18]
  • Once again, I think this is Murakami talking about himself and how he reacts to reading. But more impressive is his ability to write like that, so the reader is having difficulty understanding it. And it describes my reaction to reading - both fiction and non-fiction (science, microbiology, psychology, history, education, technology, mathematics, Go, ...). And not just reading, but people. People that make me think interest me.
• "He did not engage in pointless intellectual display, but it was clear that he had read an enormous amount and that his knowledge was both wide-ranging and deep. Nor was it simply a matter of factual knowledge: he had an intuitive eye for both people and for books. His biases played a large role here, but for Komatsu bias was an important element of truth." [p. 19]
  • I see some similarities here with myself. I'm not so sure about the deep aspect but the rest seems right.
• "What he did know was that he could not help spending a large part of every day writing fiction. To him, writing was like breathing." [p. 21]
  • This is definitely not me. But I do enjoy writing these daily web pages.
• " 'But we're in no hurry. Just make up your mind to write every single day. And don't throw anything out. It may come in handy later.' " [p. 21]
  • I have seen this advice to beginning writers before. I wonder if it applies to these web pages. Am I creating a new form of literature without realizing it? I doubt it, but the thought just occurred to me.
• "His own teaching experience gave him renewed awareness of the inscrutability of human beings." [p. 22]
  • Truly. And this is a good thing.
• "All he needed to satisfy him was his Mont Blanc pen, his blue ink, and standard manuscript sheets, ..." [p. 23]
  • Substitute Pelikan for Mont Blanc, Florida Blue for blue, and good paper for standard manuscript sheets and you have me. No wonder I like this novel.
• "As the sun was setting, he would head out for a long walk, and once the sun was down he would read a book while listening to music. He never watched television." [p. 23]
  • Again this is me with variations. I am a morning person, I don't like listening to music while reading, and I do watch sports on tv. But the long walks are important, as is reading.
• "I move, therefore I am." [p. 29]
  • This is a paraphrase of Descarte's 'I think, therefore I am.' But it is also the essence of Margolis' and Muratana's emphasis on microbiology that I have been reading recently. Incredible.

This has been time very well spent.