I think it's sad the Yuuzhan Vong?of the Star Wars EU weren't nicer alien-people. Otherwise I could have related with these bony characters more, but of what is presently known, I do relate on the particular aspect of them not being included in the Force. That must have blown some Jedi's minds figuratively before they were exploded literally, huh?

One can have a solipsistic view of the world, only to be met headlong on the journey by some freakish thing that had never been considered before, and that can, in varying degrees, break (and remake, if you're good) a worldview. New places you've never been to, approaches dissimilar from your own and you can't fathom how they work?but they do for others, and a mix of those is also common. Contemplate toilets in Japan.

I need more words to describe things like this. A usual term is "culture shock", something which turns into "cyberculture shock" when you glimpse into the Brazilian Internet phenomenon?and are thrown into?a situation far beyond your comfort zone if the only language you've known up to that point was Anglais. And then, we've got "future shock" as written by Alvin and Heidi Toffler, which is surprisingly said to be a controversial book but it makes perfect sense to me?it always has. Did you know the Tofflers also came up with the term "information overload"?

Yes, there was a time when this was foreign, before microcomputers ever invaded the desks of whole families, a day and age when "mail" had no additional vowel prefix. It wasn't necessarily a simpler time, as anyone thrown back into the Renaissance Era with a 21st-century skillset will tell ya, but it was a time.

People now compile multimedia (itself a curious word) greatest hits collections in the comforts of their humble abodes. Maybe someone who's missing the look of their college lamp from the 70s will go out and buy a newly-recreated facimile, or perhaps on a lark, invest in the treasurehunting of garage sales. I know myself, I look up a lot of things from the 80s and even from the 90s. Those are the decades I've existed in, and in 2005 A.D., as I look forward, I also look back.

History knows itself a memory tree of progress. A word?a favorite example is "cyberspace"?may be become passe in several years, but then it can resurface with new identity and not be reacted so strongly upon.?Patience is a surefire way to play Jesus with what's available to us. Language lives; if you control the meanings of words you control the power of people. If we were to wake up one day and incredibly found all our lawbooks and civil codes?scrambled into a jumble of arrayed, exotic runes and had to recite law from heart, what would happen then? Or if our power of speech remained untouched but our capacity for literacy diminished? It's all rather Twilight Zoneesque?

My botched camouflage in society serves me well. A more embarassing trait earlier in my life, I now see it delights others in an amusing way and makes them smile. Just as I enjoy watching, I am watched in turn. I strive to be a careful, eager observer?all without really trying?and the antics that result are comedic and like spilling a dusty old jar to discover it has a whole variety of gems inside. On one hand, you're horrified your floor is a mess, but on the other?holy moly?get pickin' when the lickin' is good!

My personal HUD flashes a lot of info before me, I see the colors. I always had a fondness for Hollywood blockbusters showing computer infodisplays, even when the data is faked, as it gives me a firmament to rest upon. With much conviction, like a lowpass resonant filter being swept up gradually over the course of 32 bars to the eventual climax, the microdots of the painting come lucidly into view. Sometimes I shudder, and my sky trembles with me. There's a lot to digest, and it's hard to get it all out. Oftentimes, nearby humans in my proximity will be overloaded or simply not interested (oblivious). That's okeydokey because the search continues. (Maybe they will join later.)?It's like a twisted version of The Polar Express where instead of the North Pole, if you come with me, I have such sights to show you.

In my frustration, I'm on the cusp of many things. I haven't learned the words yet?maybe there are no words. But I wrestle, I struggle, I poke at the gravity of my situations, thrown into one zany context after another, and I gotta keep moving.

On the dancefloor of life, the beat stops for no one.