In the water I am beautiful.

My favourite stories in this collection were:

- Harrison Bergeron

- Who am I this Time?

- Welcome to the Monkey House

- All the King's Horses

- D. P.

- Unready to Wear

- EPICAC

"Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?"

-- Kurt Vonnegut

Welcome to the Monkey House.

The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Some things about living still weren't quite right, though. April, for instance, still drove people crazy by not being spring-time. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.

It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was turned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.




I am reading another Kurt Vonnegut and thoroughly enjoying it. It is a book of short stories. This is the first three paragraphs of one titled, 'Harrison Bergeron.' Doesn't it intrigue you? I was insistent on buying this Vonnegut collection because I had read a description of this particular short story. The book is called 'Welcome to the Monkey House.' 

When all you've got to keep is strong.

I finished another book!

Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut.

I like his books. I have a few more lined up to read at some point.

However, I should really start spending my reading time reading textbooks.

It is 3 weeks in and I have only cracked one of my textbooks. And that was because I had to write a paper on the reading.

My humanities heavy semester means that I have 3 classes with big reading components.

Also papers. I would like to try to finish my papers early, but I don't know if that will happen. It doesn't seem remarkably likely.

This morning I fell asleep in the library trying to read a paper for Ergonomics.

I have climbed 5 days a week for the last 2 weeks. I just went climbing again today. My arms are toast. I pretty much exist in a constant state of sore muscles. I really am looking forward to a weekend of rest for my poor forearms.

And the sun is still alive even though it's hard to tell.

So, I realized that my last post with excerpts from Cat's Cradle really doesn't give you any idea what the book is actually about. Haha.

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. So here's an update. I worked night shift last week. Then I went to camp for the weekend. It was lovely. The weekend seemed so long and I had a wonderful time. I played my guitar, went canoeing (which was quite the adventure), went ropeswinging, played games, and spoke at a campfire. It made coming back to work this week rather unenjoyable. I would love to still be there.

This week I am afternoon shift. I have one more day of work, I leave in an hour. Then it is a long weekend. Yahoo. Three days for me to work on sr 2 camp stuff. The sooner I get everything ready for sr 2, the sooner I can maybe go back to camp.

I loved everything I saw. Good night!

"Nothing in this book is true."

-epigram

"All of the things I am about to tell you are shameless lies."

- First sentence in the Books of Bokonon 

Newt remained curled in the chair. He held out his painty hands as though cat's cradle were strung between them. "No wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat's cradle is nothing but a bunch of X's between somebody's hands, and little kids look and look and look at all those X's..."

"And?"

" No damn cat, and no damn cradle."

- Newt Hoenikker (chapter 74)

"As the poet said, Mom, 'Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been." ' "

- John (Chapter 123)

These have been excerpts from Cat's Cradle, but Kurt Vonnegut.

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.

     "Welcome aboard, Mr. Pilgrim," said the loudspeaker. "Any questions?"

     Billy licked his lips, thought a while, inquired at last: "Why me?"

     "That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?"

     "Yes." Billy, in fact, had a paperweight in his office which was a blob of polished amber with three ladybugs embedded in it.

     "Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why."

          - Kurt Vonnegut

So it goes.

I hope you have enjoyed my excerpts from Fahrenheit 451.

If you have not read it before, I highly recommend it. It is the best book I have read it quite some time. I found it very applicable to life and somewhat prophetic.

Then I read Oliver Twist. It was much more exciting than Great Expectations.

Now I have just finished Slaughterhouse Five. Let me tell you, it was not what I was expecting. If you thought, 'Slaughterhouse Five doesn't have aliens or time travel in it.' You were wrong!

I think that I like Kurt Vonnegut's style. I will have to read another book of his and see. It reminded me a little bit of Catcher in the Rye. Maybe just because they were written in the same era. Who knows.

I spent the last two days at camp. It was nice to be there. The new lodge is very nice and I am excited for how much more convenient it will make camp. I am also likely going back to camp next week for most of Jr 1. Which is very cool. I love the Jr 1 directors and I always try to make it to their camp. I am looking forward to it.