where art collides philosoperontap

Crystal

A random word found in a “word” document used to check its spelling

Chrystal

An alternative spelling of crystal

I’m not sure whether the two spellings have different meanings. By rights they should have. What’s the point of being able to spell the same thing in more than one way?  I suppose we could be seeing evolution happen in the language right before our eyes. If so which version is the evolved version?

I don’t really care. I’ve set off down a line of discussion to which I have no attachment. It attracts me not. That’s a new kind of flower. An evolution from the “forget me not” which is also one of the standard knots that boy scouts learn to tie when they first enter the movement. Not really but I thought it sounded good.

My kids were in the scouts. It’s a great organisation. I used to go along to the annual group camp. At the beginning a beaver has to have a parent/guardian in tow to take responsibility for him or her. Then as the kids moved up into cubs and could go on camp unaccompanied the dads were still allowed to go along. This was great fun because an unattached dad did not have to take part in any activities and was put in a separate area of the campsite away from the others which meant we could sit  around all day drinking beer if we so chose.

Beer seems to be a common thread in all this 3^rd Law stuff. Ah well. Life is short. Ya gotta do stuff. Ya know the 3^rd Law does have some deeply philosophical aspects. I’m not sure I understand much of it but perhaps all will be revealed in the process of writing the book. I could have said “during the book writing process”. Would have been a more succinct way of putting it.

The whole book thing is also about researching a subject. Laws of tinternet don’t just get discovered overnight. They are often the result of painstaking research over years, much of which is spent in a laboratory on a scientific campus. That isn’t true when it comes to the 3^rd Law which was a bit of an Eureka moment. However to fully understand such a law takes time. In a sense that is a contradiction to what the 3^rd Law is all about but that is one of the great things about it. Its natural beauty. On the one hand the 3rd Law steals your time but on the other hand you need time to understand it. Wonderful.

Another thing that could do with clarification is whether the 3^rd Law is a scientific/engineering type of law or whether it is a philosophical law. I’m inclined to go for the former, being a technologist but the whole Philosopherontap side of me says it must fundamentally be a philosophy, or at least represent a philosophy. I don’t even know whether philosophies have laws or whether a philosophy is a law in itself. Gosh, interesting.

One thing that surprises me is that I don’t lie awake at night wondering about the First and Second Laws of the Internet which as you know, at the time of writing, have not yet been discovered. You might ask yourself why the 3^rd Law was not called the First Law. The truth is I don’t know. I just don’t know. I can’t explain it. It makes the whole subject even more mysterious and intriguing.

I wonder who invented the word intrigue. It is a good word. Better than crystal (or chrystal – you chose) I think though it is unfair of me to make comparisons. It’s the old apples and pears argument. Like for like. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth though you might be at a disadvantage if you had no teeth. Or at an advantage maybe. The preference for particular words is very subjective or, for those struggling with the difference between subjectivity and objectivity, highly personal. That’s what I think anyway.

I quite like the fact that you can play with words. Also I’ve just noticed that I’ve spilled some natural yoghurt down the front of my jumper. I often do that sort of thing. There’s any number of ties I’ve ruined because of it. It’s one of the reasons I don’t wear ties. That and because I’m a reb. I have also, I regretfully must admit, ruined a fair few good shirts by spilling curry down them. Curry stains are a nightmare to get rid of. As bad as red wine if not worse. At least with red wine there are actions you can take in real time to minimise the damage like covering the stain with salt or pouring white wine onto it. I’m not a big fan of the latter. Why waste more good wine when you have already wasted some of the red.

I realise that neither wine is guaranteed to have been good but I am assuming that for the most part any person or persons intelligent enough to read this book will know their wines. I prefer red to white myself but it’s horses for courses. Innit? In all fairness to you you could be simply experimenting with wine for the first time though this I doubt very much (wink wink). There is also the scenario that you don’t want to pay the rip off prices they charge for wines in restaurants and in any case it almost doesn’t matter what sort of wine it is if you are eating curry. You should be on lager with curry anyway.

Curry is a particular fave of mine though I wouldn’t want it all the time. You have to ring the changes. Have a bit of variety in your life. Try a light chicken salad with some fresh lettuce and tomatoes from the garden. You should consider a French dressing or maybe just a simple balsamic vinegar and olive oil mix.

You really do get what you pay for with balsamic vinegar btw. There’s a lot of rubbish out there. Investing in some good stuff will be worthwhile. It’s the same for a lot of things I suppose though nothing particularly springs to mind. Nothing jumps out of the page at me, grabs my tie, pulls me towards it and says to my face “use me as an example”. Couldn’t anyway because as you already know I don’t wear ties.

That isn’t to say I don’t wear bow ties. I quite like bow ties. Distinctive. I’ve got a few and none of them have any curry, gravy or red wine stains on them for obvious reasons. You will need to work that one out for yourself. This is not kindergarten, or nursery school as it is more likely to be called here in Lincoln (Lincolnshire). Grabbing my bow tie would be a lot harder. You would probably find yourself scrabbling around trying to get a grip. There is also a fair probability that the tie would just undo itself and come away in your hands. That wouldn’t provide the assertive effect you were after in trying to grab the tie in the first place. You would look a bit stupid and maybe even find yourself backing away a bit sheepishly, letting the tie drop to the floor before turning and fleeing as fast as your pathetic feet can carry you. Loser.

Getting quite the aggressive one there aren’t I? Well sometimes things just snap inside. You say to yourself “that’s it, enough is enough, I can’t take any more of this drivel.” Yea well that is simply just how it is. Like it or lump it.

3rd Law Part 34 here

3rd Law Part 36 here