Saturday, February 2, 2008

Introductions

As I was walking to the bus station earlier this night, I was struck by the profound sense of eeriness that seemed to permeate the rainy night. Whether it was a consequence of lack of sleep or weariness from the ninjutsu practice I was going from – or a combination of the two – was irrelevant. What mattered was that the batteries of my iPod had just died, and that I looked up from the wet and gum-covered street and noticed how reality had shifted just a little. The noises, smells and sights of a medium-sized town that had been my home for 7 years greeted me, and it all felt new and extraordinary. Every face I passed was starkly in focus, burning into my retinas, snippets of conversations and the sound of the rain (which had that indistinct, wavy quality, like water from a hose pointed straight up) kissing the pavements drummed in my ears. I was a camera, recording a panorama of extraordinary mundanities in high-definition.


It felt like...an introduction, of sorts. It was like an introductory shot to some gritty, urban drama movie – ironically, the simile was formed in my thoughts as I walked by the local cinema. The sense of heightened perception I was currently revelling in had only befallen me once before, when I wrote my first short story. Then as now, I was struck by a certainty: it was time. Simple as that. A compulsion, irresistible in its pull, had me once again in its grip, and I had no other choice but to heed it.


An introduction was laid before me tonight, and it would have been sacrilege not to follow up on it. I had intended to make a blog for myself for a long time now, and tonight it was time. The choice, by providence or personal dispositions, left my hands and made itself.


I have now cast my voice into the ether, for anyone to listen to if they so choose. Hello.