It was a long, tiring and stressful day at work today. I have to admit I didn't exactly manage to keep my coolness. Raised my voice a bit occasionally today and was swearing at the network a coupla times too. Must remember to keep my emotions in check. Sigh, damned fiery passion's getting the better of me! Typical Aries... Don't get me wrong. There were no shouting matches or anything like that but there there ain't no sea of calm too! Again, don't get me wrong. I might swear at the network but the core packet backbone network (my responsibility) hasn't been the culprit for any service disruptions yet. It's *my* network and by the time I hand it over to the network management team, it's gonna be bloody clean, easy to maintain and has no single point of failure. That's my Aries pride speaking, I guess... I really should be more humble. I can be such an arrogant bastard sometimes. Heh!
Reached home about 8 pm again. Was checking the news when I discovered that Kurt Vonnegut passed away yesterday, 11 April 2007. For those who don't know him, Kurt Vonnegut is widely regarded as one of the greatest authors in the 20th century. His famous books include "Cat's Cradle" and "Slaughterhouse-Five". He's one of the authors I keep hearing about but never read...until today. I guess when I heard that he passed away, I felt that I should at least *know* him by reading his works. I actually heard about him a few years ago when during a discussion about books and authors, one of my friends mentioned his name and gave a glowing recommendation to try out Vonnegut's works.
Hence, after dinner I went on the net to check out some of his works. I managed to grab a copy of "Cat's Cradle" and MAN! I was amazed by his writing! Brilliant prose! It's kinda hard to describe his style. It combines wit, satire and black humour. I'm looking forward to finding the time to read more of his works. I need to check with my bookstore owner cousin. I wonder if the store has Vonnegut's works... I plan to buy them all! :D
I'm a bookworm. Reading less in terms of quantity these days due to ever increasing work load but I'd like to think I'm reading more in terms of quality. My last books were Trudi Canavan's "Black Magician" trilogy and before that were the four books of George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire". All in all, a pretty decent read though I enjoyed "A Song of Ice and Fire" over "Black Magician". "A Song of Ice and Fire" has a more gripping storyline and plot twists!
"Cat's Cradle" is an excellent book. I practically devoured the book. Finished it in about 3 hours! Ahh...it's been a while since I've read such an excellent book! After I finished the book, I felt relaxed and at peace. Heh, one of those rare moments of contentment. It's been a while. I'm ready to face the world again. :)
As a tribute to this great author, let me end this blog posting with a poem about 'religion' by Kurt Vonnegut. All hail Bokononism!
I wanted all things
To seem to make some sense,
So we could all be happy, yes,
Instead of tense.
And I made up lies
So that they all fit nice,
And I made this sad world
A par-a-dise.
