Three things that happened lately:

- I went to Belgium with aka_phoenix  to be present at yellow-star's goodbye ceremony / funeral. Like Phoenix, I didn't know her personally; yet I enjoyed her very positive presence in the forums, and I have a fond memory of the time when she won a 10 kg box of release fodder in my Newbies prize drawing. Since someone was kind enough to deliver the box to her home address in Belgium I could send an even bigger box so she ended up winning 20 kgs of books, and her surprise and happiness were so great they were contagious.
I'm still glad she won that prize drawing.
Yellow-Star, even though you're gone forever, you'll always be a winner to me.

Phoenix described the ceremony quite well in her journal so I don't have much to add. It was a bit strange for me to be at a religious service, but I'm glad I went. I'm pretty sure that our presence meant a lot to Yellow-Star's father and that alone was a good reason to be there.

- I joined stoneshop  in helping out at a motorcycle trials event. They always need so-called observers to watch the participants closely and see if they touch the ground with their feet, or make other mistakes while riding through the course. They get penalty points if they do.
It's a fun type of event because the sport is not based on speed but on balance and control, which makes it interesting to watch. For a competition sport, it has a decidedly relaxed and non-competitive atmosphere; riders will congratulate each other on good results, or point out tricky bits of the course to each other while exploring the course on foot before riding it.
Each course has different routes for different skill levels, marked with arrows of a specific colour, so each rider can ride at his or her own skill level. It's typically a parent-child event where fathers compete against their sons or daughters. Mothers, not so much; maybe in time we'll see that too.
I managed to punch my finger with the punching pliers that we used to mark the participants' cards to show the results. I'd never thought that was possible, but it was. Apart from that, it was a really nice way to spend a day outdoors.

- Last night I dreamt I found my Leatherman (which I hadn't been able to find for a while, and I was obviously starting to miss it). Then when putting on my working clothes this morning, I found it in one of my safety shoes.

My, this entry sure needs a lot of tags.

I dreamt I lost the car.
I was going somewhere when I found that I was walking in front of the trailer, instead of being in the car. At the time I found out, I was talking to someone about the contents of the trailer. I don't remember very well but it was probably a motorcycle and he tought it was cool.
Of course, I had to go back and fetch the car. In this dream, the car was small and dark metallic blue. I think I found it, too, but the dream was not very clear on how I went back for it. In any case, as I found it it was still running.

That was a nice and silly dream. I'd be interested in any interpretations that you may be able to give, but I can't guarantee I'll take them seriousl. ;-)

I've been meaning to tell you about this dream I had.
It was a bit like an outline for a book or a story; this story was about a book.

The book was a very special book: what was inside, depended entirely on who was reading the book. It was different for every person who'd read it.
There was a man in the story; he found the book. It looked very old, but at the same time it looked like it had just been printed. He took the book with him, read it, and after a while he discovered the book's secret.


As soon as he found out about the book being different for everyone who'd read it, he realised that the book was very special, and that it was important that people knew about it. He felt it was his duty to show it to the world.
The only trouble was, the world didn't believe him. No one believed what he told them about the book; they thought it was a trick. He tried to seek publicity, but ended up losing his job, his money and finally his friends in the process.

Eventually he ended up on a street corner, homeless, with nothing left but the book and the clothes he had on.
Still, he tried to show people the book and convince them that they should read it and see how special it was. He said things like: "Read this book, it's not like other books... this is the book everybody is looking for. This book is all you'll ever need to read. There's no second book like this one anywhere in the world."
And people would glance at the book, then at his face; he looked dirty, thin and unshaven. And then they'd look away and walk on. Those who'd bother to reply would simply say 'No thanks, I'm not interested in religion' or 'I've already got a bible'.

That's the story I dreamed up. When I told my mother about it, she said that ithe book in the story must be the Book of Life. I don't know, because the contents of the book wasn't in my dream. What do you think?