Distraction, Action, Reaction

The internet knows most things, but not all. I'm currently sitting in the basement of my building doing my washing. In front of me is a bin. Written on the bin is "Les Investissements Georges Chartier". Obviously a joke. However, one I do not get. And there is nothing I hate more than having things go over my head. So I decided to google Georges Chartier. The internet would inform me whom he is/was and I will then be able to appreciate the wit of whoever wrote that on the bin. However, much to my absolute astonishment Georges Chartier does not google! I kid you not. And so I am left wanting. Here I am trying to concentrate; yet this bin sits in the corner of the room mocking my ignorance. And not even the wonders of the internet can protect me from its contempt. To be fair to myself, and in a counter strike of great wisdom, if Georges Chartier was a significant figure he would no doubt have a certain prominence on the internet. Maybe I'm just giving my neighbours a bit too much credit, instead of the writing on the bin being a clever political or historical insight, maybe Georges Chartier is just the neighbourhood bum (which actually does make it quite amusing), or the guy who owns the building. Either way, the bin has now been turned around and I will do my best to put it at the back of my mind.

This distraction has come while I'm actually attempting to do something constructive. However I'm not sure whether in posting this someone will steal my idea before I get around to implementing it, or whether it'll actually give me the impetus to carry it through. I'm going to go with the latter in the confidence of knowing that even if someone does steal my idea I will be able to a better job of it. What I have been doing today is beginning to research and devise a plan for a book about the world's Chinatowns. The basic premise of the book is me bumbling through the world's Chinatowns whilst providing some historical analysis and musings on their cultural impact. Obviously, the idea needs to be fleshed out a bit, but it is just in the foetal stages at the moment. One aspect I am keen on exploring is not just the major Chinatowns of North America and South-East Asia, I wish to discover the more obscure Chinatowns of India and South America, whose histories may not be as grand, but are surely just as intriguing.

Apparently my final analogy in my previous post was a bit crude for some people's taste. I have a bit of a problem of accusing people who take issue with things I say of not having a sense of humour (I think I may have even accused someone of not having a "proper sense of humour" once). However, I will restrain myself this time (obviously, with the preceding sentence, I can't restrain myself, but at least I'm aware of my foibles). Let me just state for the record: I do not hate disabled children. I do not think that parents of disabled children should shun the child and get a replacement. The analogy was used for its absurdity. Its comedic value stemmed from that absurdity.