Journal

Abstract Bridges

Coincidences And Crossroads

School’s a week in and I’ve been seeing a few familiar faces on campus. Some of them weren’t people I was expecting to see, certainly, but chance deals good cards sometimes. It was nice talking with people whom I had at some point realised I probably wouldn’t ever see again. Some of them, on the other hand, were old friends. Impossibly old friends. And it was nice to bump into them (certainly figuratively speaking) and chat a little while making mental notes that I would catch up with them soon.

A couple of my classmates I’ve grown closer to, like there’s been some tectonic shift of sorts. I guess it occurs every semester or so. They are certainly nice people, so I ought to be delighted to have new people to talk more to these days. (And I am.)

On a couple of birthdays, I wished a couple of friends and apologised for my empty-handedness. One of them was someone I had not spoken to for a long, long time, and it was really good to hear that she was doing well. It was a bit of… mending bridges, I reckon one could call it, though the story’s complicated and I’ll spare you, dear Imaginary Reader. Suffice to say it was a positive sort of conversation.

And with the other, I could not talk much. Though the bridge in this case was always there. It’s just not one we often revisit. Like with those old friends I was talking about earlier. And as with those cases, I promised myself that I would catch up with her soon.

There were a couple of other minor conversations. All have gone into the imaginary folder somewhere at the corner of my brain, with reminders that I ought to keep in touch with them too.

I think this might all sound very happy, very shallow, or maybe just very dull, like I’ve run out of things to write. The truth is, it’s just not very usual for me to go about doing this, though one could argue that it was the circumstances that conspired to arrange these things, and that wouldn’t be far from the truth. In any case, it’s just not very usual, and because this is a very un-unusual journal, I thought it would be wise to point out that this is in fact unusual.

I hope it continues. I’m quite enjoying myself. For reasons that aren’t the obvious ones, but let’s not worry about them.

Elephants

I finished Murakami’s The Elephant Vanishes. It’s my fourth Murakami book, and it’s certainly the one I’ve enjoyed the most. I think this is the strongest I’ve read him, although it’s fair to say I’ve not read very much. In spite of my prolonged shortage of sleep, some of the stories got stuck in my head, including the one about TV People, the one about the Dancing Dwarf, and (especially) the love story (about the 100% Girl). It’s a very strong collection of short fiction and I definitely recommend a go at it if you’ve yet to try it.

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© 2009 a modest odyssey.