Nothing and Everything

I hadn?t realised that I had left it so long between posts, oops, you my valued readers will be no doubt fretting.(ha).
So here?s a long post about everything and nothing

I was reading Owen Meany over the weekend, trying to finish it off, for some reason it has taken me a long time to read, I broke off to read ?Sweet Smell of Psychosis? and The Hobbit, but that?s another story (actually two other stories). So I was reading about Owen Meany?s funeral, and how moving it was, because the Pastor Mr Merril had just had his epiphany with the dressmakers dummy, etc. Anyway I thought how so far removed that funeral was from anything I would want to mark my passing. So I got to thinking what I would want for a funeral, and I think that I would ask for the minimum of fuss, get rid of the corpse, give what organs I have not destroyed to someone who can still use them, maybe play some music (Song of Life ?Leftfield, Easter Song ? A Man Called Adam), have a drink and get on with getting older yourselves. Not that I really expect too many people to notice my passing. I suspect that to most I have become not much more than some ASCII characters at the end of an increasingly virtual connection.

The number of books I have left to read never seems to diminish. At present it is around 10 or so books, which I want to read and two, three or four which I feel I ought to read., maybe I should take some time out just to work through this list, but as mentioned above, since the list does not diminish this will never work. This was my original plan two and a half years ago when Andy and I ended up going to Cambodia. I remember reading Heart of Darkness & Stupid White Men, I must have taken at least one other book, but I really can?t remember what that would be (Lonely Planet?s aside). The previous year it had been A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, The Smiths (stolen by Mac and destroyed), Geisha (why?)
And that brings me onto another point: Three and a half years ago we visited Thailand, and stayed in Raileh a beautiful place one the Andaman coast just north of Krabi. I dread to think what remains of this place now, after the Tsunami, I always planned to go back there, but I suspect that if it has been wiped out then it will be replaced by big modern facilities which would defeat the point. I guess there?s a chance that Phuket took the brunt and Krabi was saved.
Holy 5hit, I guess you get so used to seeing death and destruction on TV that it really doesn?t register, but I just saw this on the FCO website:
Phi Phi Island was badly hit by the tsunami. The injured and most of the survivors were taken off the island within 48 hours of the disaster. There is no body collection area on Phi Phi Island. Recovery of victims from the island is currently still underway.
You are advised that visiting this area is a very traumatic experience, and one that we do not recommend. Phi Phi Island remains under forensic investigation, and access is restricted. If any relatives wish to visit the remainder of the area, we recommend that they discuss options with their consular officer from the British Embassy Office in Phuket.
Also:
Unfortunately, the chances of finding someone are getting smaller and smaller. Therefore we are providing information about the fatalities as well. We are currently trying to get all the fatalities to one site: Wat Yan Yao. There is absolutely no use for you to go in and look for missing persons yourself. Besides the danger of getting infectious diseases, you will not be able to recognise the missing person. That is why we strongly recommend that you do not go in the temples yourself. Forensic doctors and many volunteers are working night and day to identify the fatalities by taking DNA samples and taking photographs of characteristics you might recognise. Contact your own Embassy about where you can go to give your own DNA. There are information boards in front of the Wat with photographs. There are also missing persons forms which you can complete. Positive identification of all the fatalities is a difficult job and it is estimated that this process will be about 2-3 months.
If that doesn?t make it real for you then nothing will.