Conjunctions

I sorted out my Dvd collection a couple of evenings ago.

When I moved, I simply unpacked them straight onto the shelf and left them anyhows.  Now they are tidy, and I can find what I want.  I still have to face the cds, and of course the contents of the bookcase.  Neither of them is in any sort of order either, though to a certain degree the cds are arranging themselves over time, as the things I am listening to a lot at the moment are working their way to the top.  Six months down the line I'll probably be spitting because all my Schubert has got shoved to the back and all I can find is west African steel-string guitar and kora groups and mid-eighties rock...

Sorting out the dvds was rather fun, to my surprise.  I had wondered about categorising them, but wasn't sure where some of the boundaries should go (for example, what do you label "Rashomon"? Art House?  Classic? Foreign?).  In the end I gave up on the urge to adapt the Plessy system, and went for a completely straightforward alphabetical order by title.  This puts opera, ballet, obscure art house stuff and delicious popcorn all on one level.   The shelf begins with "Aeon Flux" and ends with "Die Zauberflöte", and you could say that's what I'm all about - the full spectrum, from Charlize Theron with a ray gun to Mozart. 

Seriously, if I had set out to buy dvds with no greater aim than demonstrating my much-boasted eclectic taste, I don't think I could have chosen better.  Picking one letter of the alphabet, the Ms are: "The Mahabharata", "The Marriage of Figaro", "A Matter of Life and Death", "Mayerling", and "Mission Impossible". 

I also discovered that at some point I have lent someone "The Princess Bride" and not got it back; and  didn't record who had it.  I am a numpty. 

The bookcase is similarly jumbled at the moment; "Olive Oil - the Key to Long Life and Health", "Lieutenant Hornblower", "Strolling through Istanbul", the libretto of "Pelléas et Mélisande", "Let the Right One in"...  But emptying and re-arranging a whole bookcase is rather a mammoth job.  I may continue to be a chicken for a while longer where that is concerned.

Meanwhile back to the writing.  Thorn has just received an alarming telepathic message from a former student and is rather worried.  I left him worried last night and now I want to restore his peace of mind, but I don't think the plot is going that way. He's going to get a lot more worried before this day is out...