----------------------------------------------------------- Beauty and writing, tfurrows (circumlunar.space), 5/22/2018 ----------------------------------------------------------- If you're not in the mood to read a long phlog post, at least check out the end-point of this post, the random-access book "Variations" by visiting the following link: https://10v24.net/cave I love to read. I love to read all kinds of books, and non-books. But before I talk about that, I want to talk about one of my weaknesses, which is related to loving and liking. Some people, I've noticed, have the super power of being able to remember names. I've known people that love music, and can remember the names of songs and artists and composers. I've known people who love movies, and can remember the names of movies and actors and directors. I've known people that love guitars and can list guitarists and guitar models and guitar brands. This remembering of names is my super weakness. It's bad enough when I'm getting to know people, to not be able to quickly and easily recall their name. It's horrible when I'm integrating into a new group, a congregation or a classroom or a club. But the weakness impacts me in other less obvious ways. I love music, with a passion. Specifically, I love to make music and I love to listen to music. I've had an instrument since I was young enough to remember, and I was likely banging on toys to make music before that. There was a short period in my adult life when I left and didn't take my instrument with me. A few months later, I was suffering from the oversight, more than I realized that I would. I've never been without an instrument since. Isn't that a love of music? Isn't that some kind of passion? And yet, when I'm around other people who love music, they are able to list off name after name of amazing guitarists, master composers and their opuses (opera? operas?), and other important names that prove their love is deep. I feel, somehow, that my love can't possibly be as deep, because I can't even recall the names of songs that I've listened to a thousand times. I can tell you that in one of my favorite pieces (alright, it's by Chopin, I do remember that at least, but only barely) there is a bit that takes my breath away and transports me to a different place every time I listen to it, right around the 3:15 or 3:40 mark. It pains me to think that I might not really love things the way I think I love them. I'm not sure why I felt the need to explore that before going on. I love to read. I've loved to read ever since I can remember. My grandfather was an internationally best-selling author of a kind of book that I have very little interest in: health books. Our family had a publishing company growing up, and my first real job (I also picked berries as a kid in Oregon) was packing books. We had a lot of books on our shelves growing up, and I would read them. As a kid, I ran out of the books I liked and I picked up a copy of "Stone Bull" by Phillis Whitney that happened to be on the shelf in my house. If I recall properly, it was a sort of romance novel. I cried at one part of it, but I can't recall which. It was dramatic, and I was young. I'm older now, and I still cry when I read sometimes, but looking back I think I might laugh at Stone Bull. I've already shared my point in writing today. I wanted to talk about the non-book shell-access novel "Variations." I can't remember the name of the author off-hand, but that is because of my own weakness. I'm unwilling to look it up, because the name of the author doesn't matter. You read Variations by logging in as a guest, or setting up an account, on a private server. The access is a restricted shell which provides a few functions, one being the reading of a novel. The novel is random-access; that is to say, you don't read it in a linear fashion, from start to finish, you read it in paragraphs that have been randomized and are out of order. The title "Variations" is a reference to a process that the author went through, apparently while writing the book. I've asked the author, but not pressed, what the Variations are. It's a sort of mystery that the reader is meant to slowly discover. There is no progress indicator while reading, so I don't know how far I've gotten, but I haven't figured the mystery out yet. I really, really love reading Variations in the random order. It's different from things that I normally ready, and I like that too. I suppose I don't have a method to the kinds of things that I read, but even in my chaotic reading habits, this book stands out. Check out Variations if you have the time and inclination, and see if you can figure out the mystery. I'm worried that I won't get it. https://10v24.net/cave