beanscene

I want to write something but I'm not sure I have anything to say. My inflated sense of self-importance usually lends itself to something. But not today perhaps.

I have just finished reading Snow Crash (despite starting it in August!). It's quite simply brilliant and is my nomination for this book swap thingy that some people seem interested in doing.

I'm in another coffee shop near Holyrood. Behind me some men with jobs talk loudly about some business of other, I think it’s biotech. A lot of talk about lab results, testosterone and market share. Perhaps I could become a corporate spy. Spend my days hoping from coffee shop to coffee shop where influential people re likely to be, eaves dropping on business meetings. Seems like a good life. Lots of time in fancy hotels and expanding cities. I have a young face and the shabby appearance of a liberal arts student. No one would be suspicious.

I began thinking the other day that I should look into becoming an academic. See what happens? I experience real life for about three days and I'm already running back to the safety of a uni campus. But no seriously. Ludology - the study of play (or video games actually) is rapidly expanding. I get the sense that the bandwagon has already started rolling but there may still be some room for me in the back. Amazon is full of books on the topic. And I am sure far more of the Amazon will soon be sacrificed to make way for more on the subject. But I'd say there are only about fifty books at most that are actually worth mention. Fifty! That's nothing. I could realistically read the lot of them in a year or so - and I'd be an expert in the field, right?

Well, whatever. A Muslim women walks past holding the hand of her young son. Britain's future. Opposite the shop a coach has pulled up with 'Skye tolls: Justice' painted along one side. A bunch of hippies get out, mill around for a bit and then one of them, the one with the longest beard, seems to take control and leads them down towards the Parliament. The result of another pfi scheme gone wrong. A well intended but poorly written policy that will leave that young Muslim paying national debts for decades to come.

Single use sachets of sugar and 'sweeteners' sit on the table. Men and women walk past carrying their single use take away coffee cups. This is one coffee shop amongst maybe a hundred or so in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is one city amongst thousands. And this level of waste has been going on for decades. And people tell me investment in space travel is a waste of money. Ha. I’ll send you a postcard from Mars, before voting along with the other Martians to put strict limits on the number of refugees coming from Earth.

I went to a Green Party meeting the other week. It wasn't very inspiring. They made lots of cheap jokes at the expense of the Tories. Bastard hippies. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't despise each other so much. I subscribe to the local email debates the Greens here have. Hilarious stuff. The local green councillor voted against a scheme to expand the sidewalks of some road somewhere because it would have cost an absolute fortune. The three Greens who happen to live on that road sent a flurry of angry emails to her before promptly leaving the party. Brilliant.

Anyway. I apologise. That was about four posts in one there.