One week until I go to Texas

I just realised that I don't know whether 'Until' is spelled like that or like 'Untill'. .. ... Yeah, no it's 'Until'.

Anyway SO in about a weeks time I will be flying to Texas for three weeks of delicious fun and not getting lost/murdered. It's been a busy lead up. I spent three weeks working in Canowindra with the Watermelon harvest to save money which was a fun challenge. One of my arms at least feels quite gunny and strong now. One armed pushups? It was really neat being there, meeting some new people, getting to know better people I'd met previously, swimming in the river, drinking lots of tea, eating lots of melon.. I had a gig at Taste Canowindra on the 27th which was a lot of fun! I love playing there - especially since I score a free lunch for doing so!

I introduced myself to Charles Williams (the Inkling and peer of C.S Lewis, not the bad-crime-fiction writer) while I was there. I started with 'Descent into Hell' which follows the lives of a few different characters connected to the production of a play. Its hard to explain but it's kind of about their interactions with and responses to fear and oblivion and deception and grace.. Heh anyway, one of the more impacting quotes that I'm just going to throw out there without explaining the context is:

"... but don’t you know how quiet the streets of Gomorrah are? Haven’t you seen the pools that everlastingly reflect the faces of those who walk with their own phantasms, but the phantasms aren’t reflected, and can’t be. The lovers of Gomorrah are quite contented; they don’t have to put up with our difficulties... There’s no distinction between lover and beloved; they beget themselves on their adoration of themselves, and they live and feed and starve on themselves, and by themselves too, for creation is the mercy of God, and they won’t have the facts of creation… No, we don't talk much of Gomorrah, and perhaps it's as well and perhaps not."

 But please don't read 'Gomorrah' and think this quote is supposed to be some comment on homosexuality. Because it's not.  When I was looking for the quote on the internet I found it on some guys blog who was using it like it was and it made me cranky.

ANYWAY it was a pretty interesting book, if a bit didactic at times. I was confused sometimes about what was actually happening in the narrative because he weaves together different levels of reality and experience into this big colourful picture that is quite easy to get lost in - but I wonder if that's his intention. I also enjoyed the way Williams portrays the horrific in a way that throws true goodness into sharp relief. Maybe I'm just a wuss, but I've never much enjoyed horror for the sake of horror.

 So yeah, worth a read I say. I've just finished 'War in Heaven' which was much more straight forward than 'Descent into Hell.'

Since I got home I have been moving house - I now live with Dad and Jo and Rachel and Kaitlyn! W00! And working on some stuff for Yak the student magazine and seeing Samara and Jethro who visited for a week and practicing music for a friends wedding reception and hanging out with Gilbert a bunch. He has made so many great improvements on his boardgame in the last few months. It's actually really exciting to watch this thing taking shape and just getting better and better.

At the moment also I am trying to decide what to do for a self-directed project this semester. I'd love to do an animation, or stuff for the boardgame, or typeset a small book, or.. a billion other things..

But writing this just reminded me of something I forgot to go do so I'm going to leave this unfinished and go and do it.

-Han