I woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. So I read the last 30 pages of Philip K. Dick's Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said.

After that, I ate a few nuts and some herb tea, and still wasn't sleepy. There was nothing but shit on tv. (To whatever degree tv is complete crap at every other time of day, it's generally even worse at between the hours of 2 and 6am.)

I pulled out my Firefly set, and was annoyed to find that the exterior packaging had taken a bit cosmetic damage during the return trip from the fest. I guess that's what I get for packing sloppy and then cramming everything together in the trunk using the brute force method.

But that was a minor annoyance. The content itself still looked as good as ever. I watched the episode Shindig off disc 2, and was thoroughly entertained, despite having seen it close to half a dozen times in the past. I added my own part to the soundtrack, strumming away on my synth using the folk guitar samples. (As far as repeat viewing value goes, I think I've probably gotten more out of Firefly than any other tv show I've bought. Well, maybe South Park comes close.)

Finally, I found myself getting sleepy again at about 5am, and got another 4 hours rest before awaking again.

About Dick's book, Flow My Tears: Reading this one was truly a fulfilling experience. It's the type of thought provoking, mind stretching narrative I would associate with Philip K. Dick. How much can I say without giving away spoilers?

The book's plot focuses on a famous celebrity who, one day, suddenly wakes up to discover that nobody knows who he is. Not only is he no longer famous, but all records of his very existence have apparently been erased from the universe itself. Yet pretty much everything else in the world is as it was.

The distinction (or lack thereof) between objective reality and subjective reality has always been a fascinating one to me. Besides delving into that issue, both explicitly and implicitly, the book shows a fascinating portrayal of life under a pseudo-modern totalitarian bureaucracy. Orwell references are rampant.

Well, I won't spoil the end, except to say I found myself quite shaken up during the final pages.

I plan to be at Hacking Society tonight, most likely for the majority of the evening. As always, the more who show up at Caffe Sole, the merrier. (At least until it starts becoming difficult to walk through the room or find a seat. But if the last couple of sessions were any indication, that's not likely to be a problem.)

Peace, all. Enjoy the sunshine.