Hi Spatial...how is life for you on this transient plane?
You should defenitely read Anthem...It's an amazing book. Even though i'm not sure i completely agree with ayn rand philosophy..i still think its beautiful. Here's the very first page.
"It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!
But this is not the only sin upon us. We have committed a greater crime, and for this crime there is no name. What punishment awaits us if it be discovered we know not, for no such crime has come in the memory of men and there are no laws to provide for it.
It is dark here. The flame of the candle stands still in the air. Nothing moves in this tunnel save our hand on the paper. We are alone here under the earth. It is a fearful word, alone. The laws say that none among men may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil. But we have broken many laws. And now there is nothing here save our one body, and it is strange to see only two legs stretched on the ground, and on the wall before us the shadow of our one head.
The walls are cracked and water runs upon them in thin threads without sound, black and glistening as blood. We stole the candle from the larder of the Home of the Street Sweepers. We shall be sentenced to ten years in the Palace of Corrective Detention if it be discovered. But this matters not. It matters only that the light is precious and we should not waste it to write when we need it for that work which is our crime. Nothing matters save the work, our secret, our evil, our precious work. Still, we must also write, for--may the Council have mercy upon us!--we wish to speak for once to no ears but our own.
Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which all men wear on their left wrists with their names upon it. We are twenty-one years old. We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for there are not many men who are six feet tall. Ever have the Teachers and the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said:
"There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers." But we cannot change our bones nor our body.
We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish. We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it. This is our wonder and our secret fear, that we know and do not resist.
We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike. Over the portals of the Palace of the World Council, there are words cut in the marble, which we repeat to ourselves whenever we are tempted:
"WE ARE ONE IN ALL AND ALL IN ONE. THERE ARE NO MEN BUT ONLY THE GREAT WE, ONE, INDIVISIBLE AND FOREVER."
__
Hi Ed...My brother won 22000 dollars in a competition for a caravan...he is actually in Italy atm just been travelling around europe. My girlfriend actually left me last tuesday too, which wasn't a surprise cos i have been the worlds shittest boyfriend haha..3.5 years and it's over. In my head like i was walking in the wind with my book open, only for all the pages to fly away into the sky, my book is now empty again:) ! A peaceful thought. I still live at home yeah, i'm barely home though studying outdoor rec i go on trips almost every 2nd week. So i have some time off and i can actually save some money i make from busking and my CD sales. Then this summer i am going on a tour up the east coast to play some gigs and at a few festivals, but have to get back by feburary to finish off my diploma! So hopefully i can save enough money over the summer to move out when i'm back.
Didn't realise there were so many of you from the old forum still here...it's actually pretty funny what this place has turned into...experimenting with ants pfft....they are indeed attempting to clone a wooly mammoth as we speak.