LUKEWORTH

Our oven goes up in increments of 750 degrees per notch - so when it says “180 degrees” it really means “135,000 degrees” and sets things alight accordingly, waking people up at 7am with the smoke alarm, ruining birthdays, et cetera.

I made a complete fool of myself. Carl, in the hypothetical case that you read this blog, here is what I should have said to you:

I love your Piano Sonatas #1 and #2. I love the Bagatelles. I love The Tempest. I love your Sonata for Flute and Piano, and your String Quartet #3. I love your Piano Concerto. There is no work of yours that I have not thought was abounding with genius. Your work resonates so strongly with me that it made me want to compose my own music. The notes and chords in a single piece feel mathematically connected, but sit just outside of conscious comprehension, leaving me want to listen again and again, until the hypothetical day when I actually have made sense of it. You are my strongest influence as a composer. Thank you for your music.

Then again, saying that would have been just as embarrassing as what I actually did say (“Hi… You’re Carl Vine! I love your music! I tried to play it but it was too hard …” etc), but it would have taken longer - so I’ve really chosen the best, most efficient option here.

Today I started learning EMACS and spontaneously burst into flames. Of rage.

I figured I’d give it a go, since I’ve learned Vim to the degree that I can call myself 1337. Vim happened to me through a work colleague, and through me hating repetitive editing, and I’m a much more efficient code editor for it. People like EMACS as well, the same kind of people as who like Vim (in a general sense - please don’t hate me for grouping them together), so why not learn how to use that editor too?

1. Because holding CTRL for hours on end strains my pinky.
2. Because it, like a sort of evil corporation, tries to make you do everything with it. You’ll be editing text, then next thing you know it you’ll be editing text and browsing the internet and playing minesweeper and organising your life and compiling, all at the same time, all in the same application. That is not what I’d call an application, but an Operating System. Just underneath EMACS is a perfectly good operating system which is better at being an operating system than EMACS is, but EMACS wants you to use it instead. I have the same qualm with web browsers and web applications.

I’d be more inclined to give it a go if it booted itself and did everything a general purpose OS should do, but then I’d be put off by point #1.