Mahjongg, Bookstores, Witty Criticism, and Arbitrary CapitalizatioN

My blogging resolve has been sapped to near-death by the holiday break. I have been reveling in a long-withheld pleasure: mahjongg (or mah jong). Dear reader, you may have seen an online game called mahjongg where tiles need to be matched to gain points, but the mahjongg I am writing about is far different. I haven't done proper research on this Chinese game (though I have found out from a reliable source it has strong ties to gambling), but it is horribly addictive and complicated and fun (with a bit of a steep learning curve). Basics: 4 players, no teams, 144 rectangular tiles, 4 'suits' (analogy - diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs), turn-based, dice, and a plethora of ways to "mahjongg" (what you say to your opponents when you win). Anyway, it's a real good time for me and my family and the major contribution to my drought of posting on this blog.

The holidays have come and are nearly gone again. New Year's parties tomorrow will mark the beginning of the end of winter break and my 8th semester of college will begin soon. Nostalgia seems to come upon me like the former LSD users say the dormant 'trips' happen without warning. I am beset in my mind by a rush of images of me walking across the wooden platform and taking my 'diploma' from the Englewood High School Superintendent. That'll be four years ago come May '08 ... the pages and pages I could fill recounting just these last few annuals. Ah well, I digress. I celebrate Christmas with my immediate family, and have done so for years (the only notable exception being 2001 when I attended a wedding in D.C. over the holiday -- coincidentally the last time air travel in America was 'easy,' just before the new security measures to cut down on terrorism ...). SO, Christmas was fulfilling for the first time in a long time. I wasn't concerned with the presents as much as in the past and I came away with some genuinely good feelings inside (all warm and fuzzy and full of cliches, but I'm tired, so, Dear Reader, this is all I will say on this subject here).

Onward!

I have determined once again that I can spend days upon days in a book store (Barnes & Noble today) and not ever succumb to boredom. I would probably become very cranky from lack of sleep and food and pleasurable company, but, wait, I really wouldn't object to sex amongst the shelves, a great venue actually! (e-cough) One of the few lines of praise I can remember from my former girlfriend Liz (round 2) was: "Fish, you are like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to bookstores." I really took this comment to heart because I really do love books (reading, learning, imagining ... ahhh, the sweet ecstasy) and I am not so fond of candy. Books are my candy (on a more comestible note, I choose fruit and vegetable over chocolate truffles and sweet tarts, not because I'm a health nut, but because I actually enjoy the former more). My only frustration about books is my slow reading speed. I want to read dozens upon hundreds of books, but I'm still catching up to some of my counterparts in quickness of eyes and mind.

This post now spans three days of work (I have been lax Dear Reader). The New Year moment has come and gone and the revelry, snack buffets, karaoke, and basement moonshine are items of yesterday (the moonshine was a real paint peeler!). 2008 is upon me and the promises of adventure in this annum are more lucid than ever before.

So many people blog today (evidenced by that very word becoming part of our lexicon) and the number of social networking sites and their members has exploded in the last decade. You don't have to look far, Dear Reader, to find numbers backing these claims. I stumbled (note the lowercase 's,' not through StumbleUpon) onto a very intriguing and entertaining article on the subject of growing social sites. Look here at http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204203573&pgno=1&queryText= to view it. The amusing points by the author really made an impression on me. Maybe Facebook is a bad choice for keeping in touch with my friends ... ?

To follow, my dad made an interesting comment about the internet community a couple days ago. He opined that, especially among the younger generations, internet users feel a power and sense of importance when others read their blogs, view their profiles, add them as friends, or join their groups, forums, etcetera ... . I thought about this view for a while and I remembered the feeling of joy when I saw my Facebook group about surviving the rigors of LON-CAPA had over 200 members. The thrill of being important! There are millions upon millions of Facebook members now, probably more on MySpace (I don't have an account), and innumerable blogs. This feeling of importance needs perspective. Perhaps I will write a post on my friend's Facebook wall and it will brighten their day. But internet communication, blogging, and group-making are no more significant than sending letters in the mail (unless that letter contains a bomb or theory-shattering idea).