Before I got a degree in English, I read a lot of science fiction. Which, of course, meant that I had more than a passing familiarity with Robert Heinlein.

Now, working on an English degree tends to take away most opportunities to read for pleasure, and when they do arise, you're a bit more particular (i.e. snobby) about what you'll read. Don't get me wrong, I never thought science fiction was puerile or "greasy kids' stuff"--after all, it's all text, hence valid in and of itself--it's just that I was more likely to read Thomas Pynchon or Thomas Mann in my downtime than Spider Robinson or Larry Niven.

Since I've graduated, I've been able to relax a bit and enjoy both science fiction and regular fiction, being entertained by both literary merits where I've least expected them and speculative ideas in a straight literature setting. Within the past year, I went back and reread all the Heinlein I have in my library. In general, I found it lacking something. No slight on ol' Bob--he was a great and influential science fiction writer with many amazing ideas--but, with the exception of Time Enough For Love, his utopian settings and bubbly, rational characters left me feeling a little flat.

Of course, that didn't stop me a couple of weeks ago, when I came across For Us, The Living at the Borders on Wisconsin Ave. Written in 1939 and billed as "Heinlein's first novel," it's really a parable that manages to encapsulate just about every single one of the ideas he later fleshed out in his Future History series. Set in the utopian U.S. of 2086, it takes the form of a series of often obtuse dialogues in which the peppy, well-adjusted inhabitants attempt to explain to a man from 1939 just how they got to be so peppy and well-adjusted, and their country got to be so damn swell.

Still, the book does highlight Heinlein's perceptiveness. The following passage--written in 1939, mind you--sounds like it could come from a future textbook entry detailing George W. Bush's 2004 campaign:

The churches had great political power. It was almost impossible to be elected to office if the churches disapproved. It is a matter of fact, easily checked, that every public leader of every corrupt political machine was invariably a prominent member of a large, powerful sect. He always contributed heavily to the church, especially to its charities. On the other hand every church stood publicly for honesty in government. At the same time they demanded of the government that there be suppressed all manner of acts, harmess in themselves, but offensive to the creeds of the churches. Churches and the clergy were usually willing to accept the word for the deed. Protestations of integrity, combined with tithing and psalm singing, plus a willingness to enact into law the prejudices of the churches, were usually all the churches required of a candidate.

I know! It's eerie. Written 65 years ago, to boot.

Why the fuck do we still tolerate it?

Have I got some sort of morbid fascination with this? Maybe. But check out this quote:

U.S. scientists said the quake that set off the wall of water had moved tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean by up to 30 meters (98 ft), causing the Earth to wobble on its axis and permanently shortening the day by a fraction of a second.

Did you get that? The Earth moved. The speed of the Earth's spin increased. For the rest of this planet's existence, our day will be shorter due to this one earthquake.

This is one of the reasons I don't like hippies. Mother Earth doesn't love us. Mother Earth doesn't care about us at all.

I had the day off today. I spent it hanging out in my apartment, drinking coffee, doing laundry and being open-mouthed in horrified amazement at the sheer scope and depth of the devastation in Southeast Asia.

My god, 60,000 people are dead. I know people who live in counties with populations lower than that. If you were to round up all the children under age 5 in Milwaukee County and drown them, you'd have killed around 60,000 people.

And this is just the toll from the initial damage. Death on this scale, especially when caused by flooding, is sure to bring disease with it. I hate to think of the final toll, by the time this is all said and done.

Oh, one thing: www.redcross.org. Check the International Response Fund.

That is all.

Sudden, inexplicable updates seem to be the rule rather than the exception when it comes to blogs. So, after an absence which has lasted through the autumn, I'm back with an update.

Things have changed quite a lot around here. Two days after Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas released, I was given my own store. The situation there was a little rocky: the manager and the de facto assistant manager had been let go. Both of them were very popular with their employees, so half of those employees quit "in protest." I'm not sure what they hoped to accomplish, as the company I work for is simply inundated with applications for employment on any given day, making employee turnover the least of their worries. To add to the irony, a full two-thirds of the employees who took such a noble stand were, within two weeks, inquiring about getting their jobs back. Of course, by that time I had other things to worry about.

I know that most people in the world don't keep track of these things, but in the world of video-games, the two months between October 25, 2004 and December 25, 2004 may, at some point in the future, be looked back on as the two busiest months in history. October 25 unleashed GTA: San Andreas on the world. The next week was essentially a pause for breath, which allowed me to gather strength, hire a few people and prepare for the week which followed, bringing with it Halo 2 (a.k.a. the second biggest release in the history of video-games). The week after saw the release of over 30 games, none of which, taken singly, approached the popularity of either GTA or Halo 2 but which, when taken on as a horde, were quite the retail challenge. The week following that onslaught was Thanksgiving week, kicking off the start of the holiday season and plunging me into a month of 6- or 7-day, 9 hours a day work weeks. Add to all this the fact that the store I'd inherited was in a state of disrepair unlike any that I'd ever seen before, and I think you'll understand why I haven't updated in such a long time.

Overall, though, I seem to have come through the challenge on top; my store has consistently earned more this year than it did last, which is a pretty good measure of success in the current economy. I had one visit from both my District and Regional Managers during the holiday season. My Regional Manager shook my hand and said that, what with all the challenges I was facing, I was doing an amazing job. Never mind that any monkey with basic math skills could be trained to do my job; I actually felt very good to have some affirmation.

About my aunt: well, she died. Shortly after I landed in Milwaukee, while I was hauling my stuff from seanb's car, my mother called to let me know that Donna was gone. I apologize if this seems like an afterthought, but nothing was resolved. She simply ceased to be, and the survivors are getting along as best they can.

That seems to be what death is all about.