You hear that, Mr Andersen?

Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

First things first - Firefly is great, as many people have said. I think I'm glad that I hadn't watched Buffy or Angel for a long time, so the overlapping actors had little or no effect for me. I think that the show benefits from having a proper budget; I'm not sure what it would have been like on the kind of money that made early Buffy, for example. The commentaries were interesting, not only for what they revealed (like the mimed control stick), but the contradicting stories about things like the Big Red Button. (Oh, as a public health warning, I feel I should say something about the English vocal actor commentaries on Angelic Layer. The first is interesting as an insight into the world of a voice actor in that industry; the second is interesting for the sensation of brain cells slowly melting away as you listen to it.)

I hope that they pull a Star Trek and make it back on the air.

***

It's a Sunday evening, and I'm getting busy with displacement behaviours related to packing up the flat. For example, I'm carefully going through my CD collection, and backing up into mp3 format everything that I've previously missed. This made some sense when I was intending to put my belongings into storage for six weeks - less so now, when I have accepted a place in Giffy and Margie's flat.

(What follows is me convincing myself that I've made the right decision - feel free to skip this part and move on to the next section.)

***

I think that seizing the opportunity to move into the flat is a good idea, long-term - I've enjoyed flatting with Giffy before, and I think that I'll enjoy flatting with the others. I'm slightly worried about whether my things will fit into the available space; it seems likely that I'll have to put at least some things into storage. I'm also aware that this isn't the most fiscally responsible course of action, especially when I'm about to enter a 6-week period where I'll be earnings-free, four weeks of which will be in Europe. (Plus provisional income tax is due soon, bah.)

On the other hand, the rent is significantly lower than my current flat. I don't have any outstanding debts to my name (excepting an overdue fee to Amalgamated Video, which my ex-flatmate Kate has sworn she'll pay at some point), I don't have any long-term commitments, and I've just had a pay-hike. I think some financial foolishness in the short term won't do me any harm.

(I feel I should point out that it's only a pay hike if I continue to work 50-hour weeks - if I cut back to a more reasonable 40-hours a week, it's a pay cut. But I think a pay cut is a small price to pay for the possibility of leaving work when it's light, or possibly even having a day off once a week.)

***

As another example of displacement behaviour - I'm making a list of the books I own. This is a sensible thing to do, from one perspective - it makes it less likely that I'll accidentally buy another copy of a book I already own while I'm overseas, and it makes the gaps in my collection more obvious. (I seem to have misplaced the first two Astro City collections, for example, which is very annoying; I wonder if I've lent them to someone?)

However, I'm also printing out lists of the books in boxes as I pack them - useful if they were going into storage, not so useful if I'm unpacking them in a week. And I've started with the non-fiction, which I was never likely to double-up on anyway. One upside is that I've been reminded of a number of books I've not thought about in a long while, including the red-covered reproduction of The Art of Kissing by Hugh Morris. I know that it was one of the Devon St crew that gave it to me, but I can't for the life of me remember which one... if someone remembers, please tell me. :)

Back to packing, I guess. I promise to do some speculating on my European Tour on Monday.

Posted by svend at July 4, 2004 9:52 PM