JOURNAL - 1999 - NOVEMBER

2 November 1999

Have I gone the whole of October without a diary entry? It is more than possible. I cannot check, because I’m here in Brussels. Having had a fairly manic kind of day, more productive than a usual first day in Brussels. Perhaps this is because I travelled last night, rather than having to get up at the crack of dawn, or perhaps it’s because my psyche knows full well that I have no time for dawdling this month. Theo has left, and I have to write the two newsletters entirely on my own, but also I have to get the wretched transport book finished, and quickly. The latter is the main reason why I really have not sat down to tittle tattle, into the computer, journal stuff. I have been working nights, weekends, in my sleep, trying to make significant progress. Theo read about two-thirds of the book before he left, and I am in the process of doing final run throughs and near final proof reads. I’ve also started on the brochure. My aim is to get the mailing out in early December, and the book to the printers before Christmas. God help me.

There is one other minor reason why I’ve gone shy on my journal: virtual chat rooms. My internet service provider, Demon, sent me a CD with its latest magazine, and on this CD was the software and free access to a virtual chat room, one where you take on a physical persona, and actually move around engaging with other people online. Now, I have never, not once ever, engaged in a chat room (not for any reason, simply that I’ve never had the software, or the inclination to seek it out). But, because it was given me on a plate by Demon, and it worked without complication, I gave it a try. And I became hooked. Almost from the first day, I signed on for about two hours every night, from 9-11pm. I can never believe how long I have been online. It is so addictive, and yet, when I shut down, I cannot really explain to myself where the time has gone.

December 1999

Paul K Lyons

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