Storm

A storm passed through last night, so we were sent home early from work. I got home, and since it was grey but dry I went for a walk. Of course I got caught in the storm, but I always enjoy that; the cold pounding rain makes me feel like I'm in touch with the elements in a raw way, like the world is forcing me to engage it in an unprotected way. It's like being touched by God. EDIT: I didn't know that twenty people, some of them Alabama schoolchildren, died in this storm when I wrote the proceeding. It was much milder around my way. I'm sorry for the dead and their loved ones, and grateful that my blithe stormwalk didn't have any consequences beyond a cold soak.

Anyway, Ken Hite has begun a series of blogposts on H. P. Lovecraft. There's a lot to disdain about Lovecraft (clunky prose, all kinds of bigotry, lousy characterization, way too indebted to his influences) but there's a lot to love, and Hite's the man to tease out the good.

I'm listening to an Acid Jazz compliation. I've slowly fallen in love with acid jazz's blend of hiphop and horns. Anyway, lyrics in this stuff tend to be pretty nominal, but there was one song with the lyric "Give it all you've got, don't give up, life's a game and you've go to play to win!" Once I thought that was trite, but now it's the kind of motivation I need, so it added fresh cheer to my day. Sadly the next song's lyric was all about making love tonight. I won't be making love tonight, so that stripped my fresh layer of cheer right off. I'm ready to join with Tipper Gore to get all these sex lyrics out of songs, but only so I won't be constantly reminded that they're writing songs of love, but not for me.