b-m-and-w

bloodletting, massage, and wiki-shock. these are the things that consumed my day.

i managed to get to see the doctor really quickly this morning, and he assured me that last night's paranoia was completely unjustified and that it's an arbitrary thing. that's never happened to me before. did it have to happen when i was feeling so good?

wiki-shock means coming across the scattered remains of someone's attempt at a feasibility test - for using the wiki for a certain type of documentation. this guy had no clue how to use a wiki, nor how to ask for help, the result of which is a cluster of "table of contents" pages that link through to pages labelled "1. Section Heading", which kinda misses the point.

that's the second time i've come across such a glaring example of "i don't know, so it can't be done". the first came from brother bear: i explained to him what he'd have to do to get java running on his system, he didn't listen, and it didn't happen. he then reported back that the project couldn't be done in java.

and these are *intelligent*, *educated* people. gods help us all.

ooh! that reminds me, i read this last night on the bus and it just keeps making me smile:

for indeed wandering is a psychopathic trait. the mocking discordant shadow who must see through because he is also a Knight Errant, passionate and idealistic, is indeed a figure of psychopathy. it is he within who is driven out of stable connections, who cannot settle, cannot conform, because he is driven to unsettle all forms. but this fugue in the soul need not be condemned to play the antisocial criminal, since precisely his mordant insights are those that can awaken the callow unpsychological innocent - who also lives within us - to discern among ideas, discover new perspectives, and survive. this the rogue errant can teach - psychological survival. thus may our psychopathic shadow become a guiding psychopomp and bring about a reformation of the innocents from below, through the shadow - of the lamb by the wolf.
james hillman, re-visioning psychology

more because the description of the internal process is itself a fantastic metaphor for how i see myself :)

i learned something absolutely frightening about the denial-of-attention that i received when trying to unsubscribe from the mailing list a few months back. i argued with the general command for a while before they told me to give up, and someone else picked up the baton and had a go today. from what he reported back, we have a major attitude problem and i'm hoping he'll succeed where i failed.

we donated blood today - i was concerned when i told the woman in charge about my low blood-pressure and my syncope, and she told me i have nothing to worry about :)
it suddenly dawned on me that the reason i had a hard time putting pressure on the vein was because my arm's become a lot tougher in the last couple of months of training!

i was amused at the end of my physiotherapy session - i'm usually the last case for the day, and it felt... awkward... to watch my physiotherapist begin treating someone else before i'd gone.

the chef's ex wants to meet me... i can't even guess what for :S
in the meanwhile, i've decided i'm going to catch an episode of one of the eight series' that i'm currently watching (wtf?! didn't i say no telly for me?!), and maybe read a bit of antoine de saint-exupéry - the little prince (hardcopy).

the hadouk trio hijaz just made my evening, getting me to turn off the lights and dance; it even inspired me to sketch an idea for my ceiling. i wonder how much it would cost to put that up professionally?