I did a bit of reading at my folks' place. Actually I was pampered immensely through out the weekend and did not want to leave. I needed that break, so badly. More badly than I had even realized.
Part of a book I read today made me laugh out loud so I wanted to share. I shared it with my mom too, but didn't get a great reception. The back story is that the young protagonist is having a crisis of the soul. He drops out of school and starts to house sit for his brother who has traveled to the USA. He fills his days playing with a Brio Hammer & Peg game, and throwing a ball against the wall while he considers what it's all about. In his brother's flat he finds a book about space and time and gets highly involved in the theories within. He learns that gravity can affect time, and that time 1000 ft off the ground will be a fraction of a fraction of a millisecond shorter than on the ground. He visits his brother and tries to discuss these theories with him but gets shot down. When they finally make it to the top of the Empire State building, the following occurs.
*****
I find a phone and make sure my brother can't see me. I'm dialing the number to the payphone on the ground floor now. It's ringing. When someone answers, I plan to ask whether he or she is aware that time passes a little faster up here with me than down there with them.
It rings and rings. For a long time. Nobody is answering. It's bloody annoying. I let it ring just a little longer. Now there's a man picking up the receiver.
Hello? he says.
Hello, I'm calling from the top of the building, I say.
Yes? says the man.
Are you aware that time runs slightly faster at the top than it does at the bottom of this building? I ask.
No, says the man
Well, it does, I tell him.
All right, says the man.
Are you impressed? I ask.
Not really, he says.
But that means that time doesn't exist, I tell him.
Oh yeah? says the man.
So what do you think? I ask.
I couldn't care less, says the man, and hangs up the receiver.
Idiot.
For revenge I drop a coin into one of the binoculars and focus on the street below. It's full of people and cars. I see a man coming out of a bank. He is trying to hail a taxi while at the same time glancing at his watch.
He looks like you and me. Completely ordinary. He probably has a wife and kids and a little house in the suburbs. He is doing everything the best he can. I follow him with my gaze, thinking; I can see you, but you can't see me. We shall never meet, but there is something I want you to know. My time is not the same as your time. Our times are not the same. And do you know what that means? That means that time does not exist. Do you want me to repeat that? There is no time. There is a life and a death. There are people and animals. Our thoughts exist. And the world. The universe, too. But there is no time. You might as well take it easy. Do you feel better now? I feel better. This is going to work out. Have a nice day.
Naïve. Super - Erlund Loe
*****
So, back to normal life now. Jackie is in town tmrw. I'm like a dog that can barely hold its bladder I'm so excited. I should get some sleep, so tomorrow I can do all the things.
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