2005 and Still Alive

People in my life 15 years ago have been dead the whole time since. I never realized that so clearly before today. "Where are you, dead friend?" "Long, long gone, Scott. I have been no more since we last met." What does that tell me? What do I think about that? I think it's real. I'm real. I'm alive. Today, the tenth, used to be an anniversary for me, hence my perennial theme.

"'Say not a word,' he answered, 'in death's favour; I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of kings among the dead," said the ghost of Achilles to Odysseus. And then proceeded to ask about the lives of his family members.

Journey said it in 1981's Don't Stop Believin'':

Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

(chorus)

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlight people

---

Journey, ha ha, yeah, I made a serious reference to Journey, the quintessential 80's rock band. :-)

Today is Columbus day in America. I have the day off, thanks to my employer. It is also Double Tenth Day in Taiwan, their "National Day," celebrating a rebellion in 1911 that led to the establishment of the Republic of China a few months later.