So I'm about to go to Edinburgh (I hope I got that one right) and I decide to check in with the information booth first.

I show the lady my ticket.
"Can I take the one o'clock?"
"You can but it won't get you to Edinburgh."
"What should I take then?"
"Nothing, You can't go there, not today."

Bad weather, train power lines are down and such. So I leave bright and early tomorow.

Babel-17 was amazing. I feel bad for bad mouthing Sam (I forget his full name now. I don't have the book infront of me.) based on his short story Empire Star. This will be another short review. (which means a good one - rather a positive one, its pretty crappy as far as reviews go)

The thing is I lack the words to express how I feel fast enough. Which oddly ties in to the book. There's a quote which I'll paraphrase.

"These alien guys, very techincal race, they could go and look over an entire engine assembly from a spaceship and describe it to a buddy in maybe 10 words and his buddy could go and build one from scratch exactly the same as the first one. Same colors and everything."
"Impossible"
"So is that odd spaceship over there, but not if you have the right words"

(Wow, I should really get my book and fix that up.)
I asked Ellie if there was anything she could say in french that didn't exsit in english. Any thoughts, concepts that just wern't present. She's getting back to me. I'm left wondering if language is thought rather then the expression of thought. It provides a structure for thought, and you can remember the words the idea that results from it. But why can't you have just a pure idea? No words, no thought.. just.. thinking.. you get my drift? Formless shapeless thought.

'Cause if you can't have that then I'm not as smart as I think I am, only as much as I can express which hasn't been as much as I like. I'm out of practice.

Go read that book, I'll even lend you mine.

-Francis

PS Props go to Frank for buying it for me off my wish list after I forgot what it was, I'm glad I'm in another country otherwise I might not have picked it up.