The best thing for being sad is to learn something

Left without a computer, I've been reading a lot (unsurprisingly). As I've read, tiny bits of books stick and tumble around and over in my mind - here's one that's been swimming in the back lately, from The Once And Future King.*

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn... "is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you."

*I actually have never read this book. I've read multiple books that cite it, and know many people who adore it, and should probably pick it up sometime.

Now the actual update. First, I can still get by on very little sleep, which is good to rediscover. I've been crawling lethargically around the house for the last week blowing my nose a lot; not sure if that was allergens, a cold, or a combination of both. It was probably best that it happened during my week of worst connectivity, though... I started clearing up right about the time I got my new laptop.

Ah, yes. Laptop. I'm wired and mobile again! I'm typing this post from my brand-spankin'-new Thinkpad. It is a thing of beauty, and needs significant modifications to the default Ubuntu install to be truly awesome (for instance, sound would be nice, as would the ability to go on standby) but it has (1) firefox, (2) working wireless, (3) xchat, and (4) the ability to ssh, so it's getting there.*

*update: Bluetooth works (after a fashion), I no longer have to modprobe piix every time I boot up, and thunderbird is present but burping slightly on occasion. Progress. I'm trying to enable one new feature every day.

Also: I'm in Boston again, as opposed to fairly-remote-suburbs-thereof-without-bike-or-car. Thanks to a late-night ride into the city from Crschmidt, I'm typing this post from a sofa in Mako & Mika's apartment, having just washed plenty of dishes from the Acetarium housewarming party last night, with help from the other folks who crashed here this morning. Note: Blueberry-coconut smoothie sounds great, but tastes nasty. Also note: Late-night diners are expensive but filling and tasty. Also also note: Roofs are wonderful! Why have I not been up on them more?

Proximity and connectivity are two things I've lacked for a while, and it's good to have them back, albeit in temporary and limited form. I'm wincing at the amount I have to catch up on, though. Should just shut up about how much I've got to do, and just do it.

Reading back through this post, I'm shaking my head at how dissolute and unordered my thoughts are this morning. Right, though. To work.