Degrees and Separation.

I have been thoroughly enjoying the past three days of dry, scorching heat. There's nothing quite like a clear sky sunset turning a hot day into a warm night, and drifting off to sleep with the scent of summer in the air.

At least, there's nothing quite like it this summer. That's why, last night, when I ended up sleeping with a fan directly aimed at me, and the blanket discarded on the floor, I couldn't have been happier. I love the heat. It reminds us that there actually is a fourth season in Melbourne, every leap year or so.

Honestly, is it just me, or are there more Summer-lovers disappointed with the poor attendance the sun has put in this year? Where were all the 46° heatwaves? The kids being sent home from school on account of unbearable weather? I'm not talking about the one day in three weeks when the thermometer is pushing the 38 mark. I mean the week-long marathon of hot air and ice-creams, camping out at shopping centres, watching the Open while seated directly beneath the air conditioner. Those are the summers I remember.

Ah well... I'm not complaining (much) – I'm lapping it up while it lasts. Tomorrow it will be raining and 23° or something ridiculous.

Summer is the reason winter is bearable, so it's sad when it doesn't keep its end of the bargain...


In recent developments...
I have discovered online gaming. Whereas before I was a Lone Ranger, now I'm more like part of the A-Team. I don't do so well on my own, not unlike Mr. T (advertise for chocolate bars much?), and I was not much of a succes as a single player. But these, days it's all the rage to destroy your friends online. The digital gaming world has opened up social possibilities that never existed when I was younger. You can now mercilessly beat down a close friend without so much as a hint of regret. What's more, they will not take it personally, and will gladly leap back into the fray and snipe you from a distant tower with no undue overtones of revenge.

I am referring, of course, to my newly acquired XBox 360 console, and the year-long subscription to XBox Live. (They were a 21st birthday present, thanks)

Unfortunately, I have also discovered the subtle undercurrents of a video game resistance movement, formed in part by my sisters (and any other women in their networks they have chosen to enlist). My mother also took it upon herself to warn me of the dangers of this form of entertainment. I believe the words 'thirty-five', 'still doing this', and 'people you've never even seen' were all mentioned at least once during the conversation.

Now, sure, I can appreciate that it would seem a little excessive to those looking from the outside. I really do think it's important to have balance there.

I find it creepy and a bit sad when you're spending a whole lot of time interacting with people of a particularly anti-social bent, who don't care much about anything that isn't virtual war. It's a kind of fractured community. Separated and connected at the same time - lots of acquaintances but no friends. Exploring the digital world but never venturing into the daylight of the real one. Interacting with everyone through technology, but shutting off genuine contact.

Having said that, there is such a sense of accomplishment in completing a particularly hard campaign against freakish, alien species, that I can completely understand why there are 169,008 other users doing the same thing right now, as we speak, somewhere on the interweb.

Surely this is not so bad.

Some day, down the track, when I get really good, I could be like those other accomplished gamers out there – sealed in their bachelor pads, starring glassy-eyed at TV screens larger than most people's front door, pounding away on controller pads (which have been moulded to the shape of their palms through continuous use), surrounded by the empty wrappers of last night's microwaved sausage roll dinner and three Pepsi bottles, yelling death threats and shamelessly gloating into tiny headsets, to the chagrin of other 12-year-old schoolboys and 30-somethings they have encountered numerous times online (but never actually been in the same room with)...

Point taken, ladies. I'll have to cut back...


Earlier today
I finally cracked the code! I may have broken through the hostile veneer of the Coffee Robots. Let's not count our chilled espressos before they're blended, but I think I've made some progress.

Today's temperature suggested to me that a cold coffee might be better than the heated alternative. I chose an Iced Mocha instead of my regular beverage. Who could have known that it would be a catalyst for such a monumental change?
They say that a butterfly flapping its wings in Tokyo could... could be used as a meaningless analogy for some ridiculous and unquantifiable theories further down the track. But that's not the point! The point is, by making this choice, I have opened up several alternate futures for myself, in the majority of which I develop a close friendship with the Coffee Ladies.

That's right. She spoke. Not the hardwired interfacing prompts she was built with – those are commonplace. She actually looked in my eyes, and laughed at my witty banter, and replied with an airy 'No worries!' when I finished my order!

I know. We're all in shock. This new development could be the start of something beautiful.

Thank you, Coffee Lady. Thank you.



Joel
– Real relationships are the ones where we can't decapitiate them when they screw up, right? I get them mixed up...