13.

I just read a rambly update by Brian Mimpress, and it really inspired me to keep writing these things. Okay, a bit of background. Brian Mimpress is one of the managers of a group called the AF Gang. It's an online community, really, that's built around the British punk/post-punk/hardcore-punk/whatever-punk band IDLES (yup, all caps). IDLES is probably the most wholesome and loving punk band I've ever heard, and the existence of this community only solidifies that. It's a place where fans can chat about anything, from financial struggles and politics to movies, music and memes. So Brian occasionally updates the group with music recommendations (called Kinky Linky) and the rambly personal updates that I already mentioned. It's structured a bit like a podcast with a rich history of inside jokes (like Hello Internet), in that all the rubrics have evolved naturally over time. So in his update, he goes over this morning's bus tunes, this morning's bus smells, the seat he obtained, the "you fat bastard diet update", and a bunch of personal diary kind of stuff in between. It's honestly really lovely to read.

So why it inspires me, is because it's clearly not a structured or researched piece of text. So apparently, a loosely-written piece of text like that can be valuable and entertaining to read! Now that doesn't mean that I think that what I'm writing here is valuable per se. But just the idea that this kind of writing can be good, is immensely inspiring. (Also, I first thought that this guy is one of the band members, and when I found out that he's not... it didn't really matter. His updates aren't any less interesting!)

Also, I'm writing this in the middle of writing my piece on the philosophical discussion on love, and it's very liberating to be able to just write whatever, instead of having to labour and research and think about every single goddamn word I write. I mean, I could do anything here! I can write beer. Penis. Mouse buttons. Music sucks. See? It doesn't matter. Lovely. Strange that writing is a good break from writing, but the way of writing is so different that it really does work. This feels like discharging more than anything else... definitely not like work. That doesn't mean that I write as effortlessly or uncritically as I'd like to. But on the other hand, I also really really want the things I make to be good, or at least decent. So even this, which is essentially just a brain purge, I want to be as good as possible. I'm not sure if I should really turn off that instinct. It feels profoundly wrong to not care at all about the quality of what I'm producing.

Anyways, that's it for today. This was a great and mind-clearing session. Cheers, don't forget to love your fellow human beings.